NO. 74
U.S. Edilion:
International Edition:
AUGUST 1984
■.-^:
k
for the Serious Computeti
p-)i
\i f
1 J Ji
'4--'
1
° 1
1
o 1
o
iiii
" _. J
Useful Math Functions
3-D Mazes
Step/Trace Programs
HiRes Graphic Printouts
p-System Comparisons
^
The Fast BASIC Compiler
A stunning show delighted the
crowd at the Whisman Theater in
Mountain View last night. Called
BLITZ!, loaded and performed by
Robert Skyles in a one-man virtuoso
programming display, the show fea-
tures the spectacular compiler for
the COMMODORE 64.
". . . BASIC pro- The BLITZ! com
■ . piler is faster than
grams running PETSPEED,and
up to 20 times IftheTcommodore
foQtor" compiler that has
Ititnoc faster than any
* til I ICO other Commodore
compiler that has
appeared to date.
Shortly after Skyles took his seat
and inserted BLITZ!, he had normal
BASIC programs running up to 20
times faster after he BLITZed them.
The performer explained that
BLITZ! translates the slow BASIC
language into a much faster code,
thus improving the performance of
the BASIC routines. BLITZ! reads
the entire BASIC program, decides
which operations only have to run
once, and compiles the operations.
It then re-writes the program into
its special P-code.
Skyles also showed how BLITZ!
adds security to your programs,
because once a program has been
compiled, it is not readable. That
means protection is an automatic
part of the re-writing.
The highlight of the show was, for
this reviewer, when BLITZ! compiled
a string of BASIC programs such
that one loaded the next. An im-
pressed audience looked on as
Skyles effortlessly passed informa-
tion from one program to another.
BLITZ! on disk for the Commodore 64 costs only $99.00.
(You can also get one for the older PET CBMs on a special-order basis.
It puts on quite a show!)
Skyles Electric Works
231 E South Whisman Road
Mountain View, CA 94041
(415)965-1735
Available from your local
Commodore 64 dealer or
call 1-800-227-9998.
BLITZ! IS a trademark of Skyles Electric Works
Commodore is a trademark ol Commodore
MORE
J
»:»>';
■iil--'
j^. '.nA
tdxtoniat
Sharing Information
I recently received a letter from a reader enquiring
whether he could use one of our programs in a software
package he was developing. As in any healthy field, a fair
amount of cross-fertilization takes place within. This is
particularly true in the world of software development
where one great idea will spawn another.
Now in the midst of all of this comes that ancient cry
of plagarism. It is said that "mimicry is the sincerest
form of flattery" but not all authors enjoy such attention.
Where do you draw the line between what is plagarism and
what is a logical or original development of an idea? It
seems more and more that this is a fine line — one that
is made by the creator rather than the lawyer. Times are
changing. There was a time when everyone 'borrowed'
ideas from everyone else. Centuries ago in the music
world this was common practice. But attitudes changed
over the years to the point that people horded their
ideas as their own and sued anyone who dared approach
any similarity to their mental offspring. Now once again
the tides are shifting in the other direction. This shift is
putting many wonderful and original ideas in our hands. It
is furthering new creations and saving a lot of wasted time
in the process.
How is this happening? To start with, for the first time
software producers are providing software that is not copy
protected. This allows for backup and working copies to be
easily made. Now you can have multiple copies of handy
programs on many disks, freeing you up from playing
musical disks. Beyond this there has been an even bolder
step taken by some publishers. They state you can utilize
their product in your own software without any penalty
and at nominal cost. The usual agreement is that you
simply register yourself and the product with the publisher
and give acknowledgement of the use of the program.
Penguin Software has done this with a number of their
graphics packages. In particular I cite their Graphics
Magician Picture Painter which is not copy protected and
allows for its use in other products. Indeed, many people
have taken advantage of the offer. In permitting use of
the Graphics Magician, Penguin has saved people hours of
laboriously drawing graphics, since it allows you to create
and save hundreds of pictures on a single disk where
normally only 11-15 pictures would fit. Here is a perfect
example of how this willingness to share ideas frees up
an author to do what he otherwise might not be able to do
because of time expenditure or lack of expertise. He
suddenly can add professional graphics to a software
package that he is working on without any difficulty. He
is not forced to learn what may be a completely foreign
area of programming, but can instead benefit from
someone elses expertise and experience.
MICRO feels that its place is one of a disseminator of
knowledge, a place where people come to learn new things
and share what they have learned. In this spirit we
encourage people to incorporate what they discover in
MICRO in their own work. The word incorporate is very
significant in this context. If you are just using the
material for your own personal benefit, then that is your
right. That's why you buy MICRO in the first place.
However, MICRO can not allow its major programs to be
copied and distributed by others — be they individuals,
companies, computer clubs, etc. This would lessen the
marketability of MICRO Magazine, the MicroDisks,
books and software packages. The smaller programs and
utility routines are a different matter. If you have a project
that can benefit by incorporating some MICRO material,
please contact us. Normally we will grant you permission
to incorporate the material in your product, subject to
signing a license that protects all parties and agreeing to
a proper acknowledgement. In this way we feel we serve
you better and make a greater pool of ideas available to
more people. Perhaps a program that we publish will find
its way into the hands of someone who will turn it into
something we can use. And then, in turn, we may be
inspired to create something else which will start the
circle again. The end result is a continued growth
personally and professionally for all involved - you and
MICRO.
7^J.mi<.u^
Mark S. Morano
Technical Editor
On The
Cover
The tortuous passageways of Carnaervon Castle
in Wales are the scene of our 3-D Maze. The usual
warning is, of course, given to all foolish enough
to enter, printed with the Atari/Epson custom
characters offered by Mike Bassman's program.
Vhoto by Cindy Kocher
MICRO
No. 74 ■ August 1984
Featured This Month
This month we offer eight complete major programs on a
variety of topics, plus an excellent look at the 68000
machines and their operating systems.
Truly 3-D Mazes — generate truly 3-D mazes with a
minimum of effort and memory. You get a rat's-eye view
of the maze corridors as you "walk" through! And it all
starts with a cube and 3 1/2K of RAM!
Alter Track and Sector — allows the user to dump,
in hex, any sector on a disk with VIC/Commodore format,
then modify any byte in that sector. Rewrite lost headers
without loss of data!
Extended Precision Arithmetic — if greater
mathematical precision is needed than is usual in BASIC,
for statistical calculations perhaps, then this is the
program for you. An interesting application is included in
what may be the only program for calculating the lunar-
based Jewish Calendar.
Relocatable Step/Trace — this step and trace routine can
be easily moved to any part of a program.
The UCSD p-System — a careful, lucid explanation of
how the fast, flexible p-system works and why it is
becoming THE 68000 Operating System. Also, a review of
six 68000-based microcomputers which puts the new
systems in perspective.
Atari Character Printer — creating an unending array of
different character fonts on your Atari screen can be fun,
but now you can also print them out on paper with
complete accuracy!
Useful Math Functions — save time and mathematical
aggrevation with a collection of defined functions.
C-64 Graphic Dump — this "perfect" dump works
either in HiRes or multi-color, allows large size printouts
and is very fast. This month, learn to interface 5 major
commercial packages - whatever you generate you can
now dump.
HILISTER — highlighting lines of text and programs can
be useful for emphasis or clarity when discussing material
on the screen in business meetings, classrooms, seminars.
This program also allows easy movement within a
program or text.
iMCftO
Announcing . . . TOTL. MOI\IEYMII\IDER
FOR THE COMMODORE 64™
The home accounting package that will make
your budget, not break it! ONLY $39.95
^j,m^
u
Busme^
Money-Saving
Bonus Paks
of 64 Software
(BP-1 )— (disk)
totl.text/
totl.speller/totl. label
reg. price $103 NOW $79
(BP-2)— (disk)
totl. business/
tott time manager/
totl . inf omaster/toti . text
reg. price $228 NOW $159
(BP-3)— (disk)
totl.infomaster/
totl.text/totl.speller
reg. price $129 NOW $99
(BP-4)— (disk)
totl.text/
totl.speller/
research assistant
reg. price $118 NOW $89
(BP-5)— (tape)
totl.text/totl. label
reg. price $60 NOW $49
Commodore fi4 and VtC 20 are tTademarks o1
Commodore Business Machines Inc.
INFORMATION AND ORDER COUPON
TAPE
TOTL.TEXT 2.0 (VIC + 8K) D 24.95
TOTL.TEXT 2.5 (VIC + 16K) D 34.95
TOTL.LABEL2.1(VIC + 16K) D 19.95
TOTL TIME MGR. 2. 1 ( VIC + 8K) D 29.95
RESEARCH ASST. 2.0 (VIC + 8K) D 29.95
TOTL.BUSINESS 3.0 (VIC + 24K)
TOTL.TEXT 2.6 (C-64) D 39.95
TOTL.SPELLER 3.6 (■C64)
TOTL.LABEL2.6(C-64) D 19.95
TOTL TIME MGR. 2.6 (C-64) O 34.95
RESEARCH ASST. 2.0 (C-64) D 34.95
TOTL.INFOMASTER 3.6 (C-64)
TOTL.BUSINESS 3.6 (C-64)
TOTL.MONEYMINDER 3.6 (C-64)
BONUS PAK #
Check, Money Order or
C O.D ' also accepted.
'C-O.D. orders $2-00
additional (CA residents
add6i/)% sales tax)
FOR ORDERING ONLY
Total .
COD. Charges/Sales Tax .
Shipping & Handling .
Amount Enclosed .
DISK
D 28.95
D 38.95
D 23.95
D 33.95
□ 33.95
D 84.95
D 43.95
D 34.95
D 23.95
n 38.95
D 38.95
D 49.95
D 94.95
D 39.95
$3.00
-CALL OUR TOLL FREE NUMBERS
Continental U.S. 1-800-351-1555. California 1-800-351-1551
Hawaii and Alaska 415-943-7877
D SEND MORE INFORMATION (no charge for catalog)
Name
Phone {
Card # _
- Zip
_ D MC D VISA
Exp.
Dale
TUR
quality you can afford
1555 Third Avenue
Walnut Creek, CA 94596
SOFTWAHE, INC. 415/943-7877
Publisher/Editor-in-Chief
Robert M. Tripp
Associate Publisher
Cindy Kocher
Production IManager
Jennifer Coilins
Technicai Editor
Marl< S. Morano
Technical Editor
Mll<e Rowe
Advertising IManager
Wiiiiam G. Yorl<
Dealer Sales Manager
Linda IHensdiii
Circulation IManager
Linda IHensdiii
Office IManager
Pauline Giard
Shipping Director
Marie Ann Wessinger
Comptroller
Donna M. Tripp
Accounting
Louise Ryan
Contributing Editors
Cornelis Bongers
Phil Daley
David Malmberg
John Steiner
Jim Strasma
Paul Swanson
Richard C. Vile, Jr.
Loren Wright
MICRO is published monthly by:
MICRO, Chelmsford, MA 01824.
Second Class postage paid at:
Chelmsford, MA 01824 and additional
mailing offices.
USPS Publication Number: 483470.
ISSN: 0271-9002.
Send subscriptions, change of address,
USPS Form 3579, requests for back issues
and all othe fulfillment questions to:
MICRO
P.O.Box 6502
Chelmsford, MA 01824
or call 617/256-3649.
Subscription Rates: (per year):
U.S. $24.00 or $42.00 tor two years
Foreign surface mail: $27.00
Air maii: Europe $42.00
Mexico, Central Annerica, Middle East,
North Africa, Central Africa $48.00
South Annerica, South Africa, Far East,
Australia, New Zealand $72.00
Copyright © 1984 by MICRO.
All Rights Reserved.
/MCftO
for the Serious Computerist
AUGUST 1984
15
Relocatable
Step/Trace
Chester H. Page
19
Constructing Truly 3-D
Mazes
Dr. Alan Stankiewicz
2Z
Graphic Print for C-64,
Part 2
Michael J. Keryan
32
Alter Track and
Sector
Edwin L King
Sb
The UCSD p-System:
DeFacto Standard
68000 Operating
System?
Paul Lamar & Richard Finder
41
Atari/Epson Custom
Cliaracters
Mike Bassman
47
Extended Precision
Arithmetic in BASIC
Rolf B. Johannesen
■MICRO
Step and Trace program
can be moved easily to any
part of the program.
Get a rat's-eye view of the
maze corridors as you
"wall<" through them.
Interface with major
commercial pacl<ages to
create a full-page graphic
printouts.
Rewrite any sector on a
disl< without loss of data.
A careful, lucid
explanation of p-System
and a comparison of
six 68000-based computers.
Create and transfer almost
unlimited customized
alphabets to paper —
accurately.
Greater mathematical
precision and a way to
calculate the Jewish Lunar
Calendar.
No. 74 - August 1984
MO. 74-
52
HILISTER - A Study
and Teaching Aid
J. Morris Prosser
Move easily within your
programs and highlight
parts of text or listings for
emphasis, drama, clarity.
SS
Useful
Functions — Part 3
Paul Garrison
Save time and
mathematical aggrevation
with a compilation of
defined functions.
65
Interface Clinic: A iVIajor
Hardware Interface
Ralph Tenney
Design a major hardware
Interface - a receiver
board for the 32K CoCo.
Product Reviews
11 When I'm 64 Sophisticated music
synthesizer with
vocal parts and
animated face.
12 Advanced
System
Editor
An extended Pascal
System Editor with
many enhancements
and special
features.
11 BASIC Building
Blocks
Over 60 sample
programs describe
all facets of
beginning
programming.
13 Total
Health
A personal health
monitor to keep
track of nutrition on
a daily basis.
1 3 Commodore 64
Music Master
11 Write Now!
Professional word
processor with 80
column display,
compatible with
most printers.
Over 50 BASIC
music programs to
enjoy and learn
with.
14 Magic Memory
12 Songwriter
Songs are recorded
in a piano-roll style,
making song
composing fun and
easy.
Address-book type
of data-base system
for the Apple.
1 4 64 Doctor
Total diagnostic
12 Clone Master
A disk utility
designed to create
backup copies of all
or parts of user-
owned disks.
program for the C64.
14 Computer
Mechanic
Learn automotive
diagnostic methods
and keep track of
auto maintenance.
Departments
2 Editorial
3 Highlights
8 Feedback
10 Spotlight
No. 74 • August 1984
61 CoCo Bits
68 Books
12 Reviews
62 Commodore Compass
MICRO
69 Catalog
71 Lyte Bytes
72 Advertiser Index
72 Next Month in Micro
It all adds up...
HOME COMFITTERS
A
mm
850 Interface J1S9.00
Kao Becordor 171.99
M2Q Color Printer J819 00
1028 Dot Matrtx Prtntar »299.00
MS'? tetter Quality Prlnter..*269.00
1030 Direct Connect Modem. ...ISS^g
1050 Disk Drive 4349.00
1064 Memory Module $125.00
Tbuch Tablet/Software $64,99
Light Pen/Software $72 99
0X22 Track Ball $39.99
7097 Atari Logo $74.99
4018 Pnot (Home) $37.99
4Ga Pilot ^dUC.) $99.99
8038 Atail PUot $77.99
B049 VlslGalc..,..,. ....$149.99
488 Communicator 11 $119 99
eOOXI. $149
800X1. $889
WHILE SUPPLY LASTS
1200X1, CALL
1460XL CALL
CX3Q Paddlea. $U.99
CX4Q JoyBtlok $7.99
40U Star Raiders $31,99
4088 Pao Man $31.99
4025 Defender $3199
8026 Dig Dag $3199
8031 Donkey Kong $35.99
8034 Pole Position $37.99
8040 Donkey Kong Jr $33 99
8043 Ms Pacman $37.99
8044 Joust $37,99
8045 Pengo $33,99
8052 Moon Patrol $33.99
4003 Assembler $44.99
8126 Mloro.50ft Basic I or II. $64 99
DISK DRIVES FOR ATARI
PERCOM RANA
AT 88-Sl $279 00 1000 $299 00
AT 88-Sl PD $399.00 THAK
mVUB AT-D2 $389.00
QT Drive $379.00 AT-D4 $389.00
MEMOHT BOARDS
APPLE/FRANKLIN
Axlon 38K .
Axlon 48K..,
Axlon 128K .
$59 99
Axlon 128K
$299.00
.$99 99
Axlon 320K
$849 00
$299 00
ALIEV TOICE BOX
AB«H. $U9.00 Apple $149.00
DISKETTES
ELEPHANT
5'/," SS/'SD $18.49
5"i" SS/DD $21 99
SVi" Da'DD $26 99
DISK KOLCERS
UTNOVATIVB CONCEPTS
nip-n-FUe ID $3.99
PMp-n-Plle SO $17.99
Pllp-n-Flle 50 vrflook $84.99
S^W IMrfE Head Cleaner $14.99 Plip-n-Flle (400^800 ROMl $17.99
5'/i
5i/»
5Vi
MAXELL
■ MD-1 $24,99
■ MD-2 $3499
FD-l $39 99
FD-2 . ... $49 99
-nKBATSH
• SSrtJB value life. $22.99
' xmroD. yuae UBs tsa.aa
COITTROLLERS &: JOYSTICKS
WICO
Joystick $21 99
3-wa^ sTt^sUek- ^ $82.99
»B«wF-»^, „_ — jai.w
iKffis j!^r«a«*— «i?.9iB
mmssmwe wak b«b „.j|»4.99
AP^ law* Ban ~ $84.99
Apple Analog . . $37 99
hoala
Atari (ROM) $79 99 IBM
C-64 (ROM) $79,99 Apple/Frank
KRAFT
Joystick $4199
Atari Single rire $12 99
Atari Switch Hitter $13.99
Apple Paddles $34.99
IBM PaddJes $34,99
IBM Jcystiolt $46,99
AXIOM PBIMTTEBS
AT-lOO Atari Interface Prlnter$839.00
GP-lOO Parallel Interface $199.00
GP-5S0 Atari Bidirectional $319.00
GP-700 Atari Color Printer. $489.00
GP-S50 Pa-"ailel Printer
$269 00
BMC
401 Letter Quality
$589 00
BX-80 Dot Matrix
$269 00
C.ITOH
Gorilla Banana.
$809 00
Prownter 8S10P
.$379.00
Prowriter 1550F
,$599 00
AlO (18 cps)
,$569 00
Hor, Dot Matrix . .
.CALL
FlO-40
$999 00
F10-5S
$1349,00
COMREX
GomWrlter 11 Letter Quality
,$499 00
DIABLO
620 Letter Quality
$949,00
630 Letter Quality
$1749,00
DAISTWRITER
2000
,$999,00
Tractor Feed,
, $109,00
ZPSON
RX-80 RX-80FT, RX-iOO
CALL
FX-80, FX-lOO
, , CALL
LQ 1500
,,0ALL
IDS
Prism 80. ..For Configuration
CALL
Prism 32, .For Configuration
CALL
JUKI
6100
,$499.00
ANCHOR
Volksmodem $59,99
Mark IL Serial $79,99
Mark VII (Auto AnSjAuto Dlal)$99.99
Mark XII (1200 Baud) $299 99
Mark TR8-80 $99,99
9 Volt Power Supply $9.99
HAYES
.Smartmodem 300 $209 00
Smartmodein 120C. , , , $499,00
Smartinodem I,200B $449 00
Micromodem lie $269,00
Mioromodem iOO .,$'299,00
Smart Com 11 $89,99
Chronograph $199.00
MONITORS
AMDEX
300 Green $149 00
300 Amber $159,00
310 Amber $169,00
Color 1 $279, OC
Color 1 Plus $299 00
Color 2 Plus $419,00
Color 3 $349,00
Color 4T IBM $699,00
BMC
1201 (12" Green) $88.99
1201 Plus (18" Green Hi-Re.= ).,,$98 99
9191 Plus ,$249 CO
GORILLA
la" Green , $86 99
12 ■ Amber , , $95,99
NEC
JB 1260 Green $109,00
JB laoi Green $149,99
JB 120S Amber $159,99
JB 1215 Color $259,00
JC 1216 RGB $429 00
JO 1480 Color , $359 00
PRINCETON GRAPHICS
$99 99 MAX 12 Amber , ,$199 00
$8599 HX-12 RGB $539 00
SRT-2 RGB $649 00
MAVNXSMAN TALL7
160L $589,00
180L $799 00
Spirit 80 $309 00
NIC
8023 Dot Matrix , $389 00
8025 Dot Matrix $669 00
2010'1S.'30 $749 00
3510,13.30 $1369 00
7710/15/30 $1799.00
OKISATA
82, 83. 84. 92, 93, 2350. 2410 ..CALL
OLTMPIA
Compact a $479 00
Compact RO , ,$,509,00
ESW 3000 $1449,00
SMITH CORONA
TP-1000, , , , ,$449 00
Tractor Feed $119,00
SILVER REED
SOO Letter Quality $449,00
550 Letter Quality $549,00
770 Letter Quality $899 00
STAR
Oemini lOX $299 00
Gemini 15X $399 00
Serial Board $75 00
Radix 10 $59900
Radix 15 $699 00
TOSHIBA
1340 $869,00
1351 $1699,00
TRANSTAR
120P $469,00
130P $649 00
315 Color,, $459,00
MODEMS
NOVATION
of-Cat $99 99
Cat $139 00
Smart Cat 103 $179 00
Smart Cat 103/212 $399,00
AutoCat $219,00
212 AutoCat $549,00
Apple Cat II,
, $249 00
212 Apple Cat,
$449 00
Apple Cat 212 ijpgrado
, ,$259 00
PC Cat Access 1 2 3
$399 00
ZENITH
,5339 00
ZT-1
ZT-10 $309,00
ZT-U $369,00
SAX ATA
3C 100 Color , $269,00
SG-1000 Green, , , , $129 00
SA-1000 Amber ,, , $139 00
TAXAN
210 Color RGB ,,, ,, $299,00
400 Med.Res RGB $319 00
415 Hi-Res RGB $439,00
420 Hi-Res RGB (IBM) $489 00
100 12" Green $125.00
105 12" Amber $133.00
USI
Pi 1 9' Green $99 99
Pi 2, 12' Green $119 99
Pi 3, IS" Amber $129 99
Pi 4, 9" Amber $119 99
1400 Color $269,99
QirASXAM
Quadohrome 8400 Color $519.00
ZEKITH
ZVM122 Amber
ZVM123 Green
ZVM124 IBM-Amber
ZVM13 1 Color
ZVKllili ROB , , ,
ZVM135 RGB.'Composite
■■^ west
J& 800-648-3311
In NV call (702)588 5654, Dept, 125
Order Statias Number: 588-5654
F.OSox 6689
SiaSeHae, HV 69449
Canada
Ontario/Quebec 800-268-3974
Other Prouinces800-268-4559
In Toronto call
(416)828-0866, Dept. 125
Order Status Mumtier; 626-0866
2506 Dunwin Drive, Unit 3B
Mlssissauga, Ontario, Canada L5L1T1
east
800-233-8950
125
In PA call (717)327-9575. Dept.
Order Statu.=i Number. 327-957R
Customer Service Number: 327-1450
477 E, 3rd St., WUUamsport, PA 17701
irortai.
Larger ship
our catalog
no deptMltoaC.OJJ. orders and no waiting period for certified checks or money orders Add 3% (minimum $6) shipping and handling on all orders.
hipments may require additional charges NV and PA residents add sales tax All ite,^l.^ sub,:ticl to availabiiitj' and price change, CaL today for
the "best prices
IBM
APPLE/FHAVKLIN
DISK DRIVES
MICRO-SCI
AS $219 00
A40 $299 00
A70 . $319 00
C2 Controller $79 99
C47 ControUer $89 99
RAITA
ElUe 1 $279 00
Elite 2 $389.00
Elite 3... $569.00
APPU IIS STAHTBR PACK
64K Apple lie. Dlslc Drive & Controller,
80 Column Card. Monitor II & DOS 3.3
COMPLETE CALL
Call on all othar Appla Models
MBC 880 CALL
MBC 888 CALL
MBC S88-2 CALL
MBC 1100 $1499.00
^FRAMKLM
ACE 1000 Color Computer CALL
ACE PRO PLUS Sy.'^tem CALL
ACE 1200 Office Mgnit. System.CALL
ACE PORTABLES CALL
^ SANYO
MBC 1150
$1899.00
MBC 1200
.$1849 00
MBC 1250
$2099.00
PR 5500 Pr:nter
$599 CO
HEWLETT PACKARD hp uc $62 99
^ HP 12c $92.99
HP ISC $92.99
HP 16C $92.99
HP ?5D $8?9 99
HPIL Module $98 99
HPIL Ca,s.5ette or Printer... .$359.99
Card Header $143 99
Exterided Function Module ... $63 99
Time Module $63.99
HP 71B $419.99
41CV $189.99
41CX $249.99
SHARP*
NEC
PC-1800A $168.99
PC-1280A $88.99
CE-125 PrinteirCassette $128.99
CE-150 Color PrlntenCaaselte..$171.99
CE-1S5 8K RAM $93.99
CS-161 16K RAM $134.99
^K commodore
CBM 8038 $899
CBM 8096 $669 00
CBM 9000 $999.00
B128-8C $769 00
8032 to 9000 Upgrade $499.00
2031 LP Disk Drive $299.00
8030 Disk Drive $949.00
8250 Disk Drive $U99.00
4023 Printer $379.00
8023 Printer $569.00
6400 Printer .,$1399 00
Z-RAM $499.00
.Silicon O.Tice. $699.00
The Manager $199.00
SottP.OM $125 00
VISlCalc $159.00
PaOPKSSIOHAI. SOVTWASK
Word Fro a Plus $189.00
Word Pro 3 Plus $169.00
Word Fro 4 Plus/5 Pluaeaoh...$a79.00
InfoPro $179 00
Administrator. ... $.399 00
Power S79 99
r.r.^B^r'
NEC
PC-8221A Thermal Printer. , .$149 99
PC-8281A Data Recorder $99.99
PC-8201-06 BK RAM Chips $106.00
PC-8206A 3aK BAM Cartrldge$3a9.00
8Z-a4Portabl« $«39
CBM 64 $199
C1541 Disk Drive $249 00
C1530 Datasette $69.99
C1S20 Color Printei^Plctter . $129.00
M-aol Dot Matrix Printer $219.00
01526 Dot Matrix/Serial $29e;00
C1702 Color Monitor .4259.00
C13U .Joystick $4.99
C1312 Paddles $11.99
C1600 VIC Modem $59.99
C16E0 Auto Mdoem . ,$69.99
Logo 64 $49.99
Pilot 64 $39.99
Word Pro 64 Plus , ,. . $59 99
Calc Result 64 , . , ... $65.99
Calo Result Easy ,..$39.99
Code-writer 64 $73.99
MCS 801 Color Printer $499.00
DPS UOl Daisy Printer $459.00
Magic Voice Speech Module $54 .96
Desk Organizer Lock $49.99
Vidtex Teleco.mmunications $34 95
WBC paivTxas
MEC 2050 $899.00
NEC 3550 $1669.00
PBHCOIKTAHDOH
DISK DRIVES
5m" 320K Floppy $219.00
b Meg Hard w Controller. . .$1049 00
10 Meg Hard ™ Controller, $1,749.00
20 Meg Hard w Controller, ,$1899 00
VISICOHP
VlslCalc IV $159.00
VisiWord + $249.00
Visl-on Application Manager.. .$79. 99
Vlsi-on Calc $269,00
Visi-on Graph $179.00
Vision Word $249.99
Optical Mouse $189.99
AST B.K8EAKCH
Six Pak Plus fi'om.. $279 00
Combo Plus 11 from. ..$279.00
Mega Plus from... $309 .00
I/O Plus from. ..$139. 00
qUADRAM
Quadlink $479.00
Quadboard as low as. $289 00
Quad 512 Plus . .a.s low as $249 00
Q_u,idcolor as low as ..$219.00
Ch.-onograph $89 99
Parallel [nte."face Board . . $89.99
64K RAM Chips Kit $59.99
WordStar
InfoStar
SpellStar
CalcStar .
MICROPRO
rofes.siona; Pack.
$389 00
$399 00
$159 00
$99 99
MICKOSTUr
Crosstalk $105.00
KICROSOIT
MultiPlan $159.00
ASHTOH-TATZ
dBASE II $339 00
dBASE Ul . , $449 00
Friday' $185 00
lUS
EasyWriter II $249 00
BasySpeller .,,$119.00
EasyFiler $229.00
COBTm>TAI. BOnWARX
1st Class Mail/Form Letter $79.99
Home Accountant Plus $38.99
LOTUS
Symphony $549 00
1-2-3, . , . ,.$339 00
PROFESSIONAL SQfTWAKE
PC Plus/The Bess $329 00
SYNAPSE
File Manager $89.99
I systems
PC COMPATIBLE 16 BIT SYSTEMS
Z 160 PC Z-i60 PC
Call for price and configurat-ions
SOFTWARi:
C-64
Atari
IBM
Apple
Electronic Arts
One on One
MusiR Construction
Pinball CoTistmctiori
Cut & Paste
Hard Ka' P.-Iack
I fi to Con:
In
ride;
midline
P;a.iiet.t.'ill
Enchanter
Zorkl.2.3 ea
Suspended
Sorcerer
AtarlSoft
Moon PaM'Ol
M,s ?a.cMar,
Pr.cMan
Pole _rositiGn
Spinnaker
Aerobics
Tra-ns
Adventure Creature
Aegean Vbyage
Sntxfper Troops 1.2 ea
Tra-ci'.on Fev«r
VisiCorp
VislCalc
VlslCalc Advap-ced..
pfS:
839.99
S29.99
•29.99
•29.99
$29.99
$29.99
$29.99
$29.99
S2e.99
•29 99
$29 99
$29.99
«3999
•38.99
•39.99
•39 99
sar 59
$27 99
$27 99
$27 99
S29 99
S29 99
$29 99
$29 99
$.^.9 59
Si:9 99
£29 99
$29 99
.S29 59
829 99
$29 99
$29 99
$£9.95
$29 99
$29.99
$2999
129 99
$29,99
t2S.99
•29 99
$27.99
$27.99
•27.99
$27.99
$29.99
$29.99
•29.99
•29:39
$29.99
$29 99
•29.99
$29.99
S35 99
NA
$28 99
$28 99
i?& 99
KA
$^8 9
$~8 9
S35 99
N A
S~° 9J
8.^3 J H
S35 99
BA
»^8 ju
$.8 9j
S35 99
N A
$..8 J^
$.^8 9f
%Z^ 99
N A
$^8u
$..<< 9
$28.99
$2S.99
$28 39
$SS99
t249S
$2:4.99
•24 99
*2«99
$24.99
$24.89
$24 99
$S4S9
$2499
$24 99
$24 99
$24 99
428 99
•28 99
•28 99
$28 99
$22 39
$3 2 99
S.... H
%^< uu
Ssa 99
,522 95
« 2
$.. 1
.22.". 99
824 99
824 9
$■'4 9J
S2r; 95
S22 99
i- 5
$.. (
.Sir 95
$17 99
8 -
S " 9
• 7999
•79.99
$175 99
$185 99
$159.99
$149.99
•159 99
•159 99
Jf.'A
ua
HA
•289 99
NA
.^IA
889 99
$89 99
MA
K A
889 99
$79 99
ti .".
HA
$73 59
S79 99
N A
N A
$,■59 99
879 99
•A A
N A
8ie 99
816 99
Canada
Ontario/Quebec 800-268-3974
Other Prouinces800-268-4559
III Toro.^ito call
(416)828-0866, Dept. 125
Order Status Numter: 828-0866
2505 Dunwin Drive, Unit 3B
Mlsslssauga, Ontario, Canada LSLITI
CANADIAN ORDERS: All prices are subject to shipping, lax and ouixency fluctuations. Call for exact pricing in Canada. INTEBMfATIOlIAL ORDBBS: AIJ
orders placed -with US offices for delivery ontside the Continental United States must be pre-paid "by certified c'^^ec'R only. Include 3^73 (Tnlnimum $5)
shipping and handling. EDUCATIONAL DISCOUHTS; Additional discounts are available to qualified Educational Instiluticns. APO &: FPO: Add S^o (minimum
$5) shipping and handling
west
800-648-3311
In HV call (702)565-5654, Dept. 125
Order Statu.8 Number: 588-5654
P.O.Box 6689
Stateline, NV 89449
east
800-233-8950 |
In PA call (?l?)327-9575, Dept. 125 "-
Order Status Number: 327-9576
Customer Service Ntimter: 327-1450
477 E. 3ra St., ■WmiaiBsport, PA 17701
^^eedJ&i^
Question Mark Unraveled
Dear Drs. Ferra & Cortease:
After many hours of research, skipping
meals, and closing down the library
several times, I believe I have
uncovered the secret to the North
American Rosetta stone discovered by
Drs. Ferra and Cortease.
The communications of the Toltecs
and Aztecs using Pyramidems of the
Moon, I found out, was somewhat
slow due to the serial pottery interface
required. This led to much
experimentation and finally the
development of the much more
efficient Pyramodens of the Sun. These
were parallel devices and required
only minor modification to the Adobe
software. With the new hardware,
everyone had access to the Teotihuacan
data bases.
A drawback still remained in data
transmission. An Alpha Spatial Scan
(ASS) was needed to provide proper
displaying on the Ceramic Refined
Tritons (CRTs). Plumed Serpentine
Software, Inc., with main offices at the
Temple of Quetzalcoatl, overcame the
problem and provided the solution and
test data to all who requested it.
The test data could be obtained on
clay or the more reliable rockettes. It
was in 126 position spiral form and was
read from the outside inward, breaking
on every seventh position creating
18 new positions. The graphic
representations of the 18 positions
was then reversed and message
"WELCOME TO LYTE BYTES" was
displayed.
Oliver H. Wardlow, Jr.
Topeka, KS
Editor's Note:
Out thanks to Dave Nicklas of
Danvers, MA who was the first to send
in the correct solution.
Unusual Software Sought
Dear Sirs:
I am interested in point-of-sale cash
registers, bar code readers, and software
for liquor store applications.
Cleo McCoy
Marietta, GA
Dear Sirs:
I am interested in Apple II Plus
software and related hardware for use
in quality control of nuclear fuel.
Hyun Tae Kim
Korea Advanced
Institute
Chung-Nam, Korea
Dear Sirs:
Energy Research
I am writing to ask if you know where 1
might be able to obtain hardware and
software for an Apple II Plus to operate
and control a fish nursery. I am very
interested in any information about
setting up and operation of
computerized fish farms/nurseries.
Joseph G. Bloechl
APO New York
Editor's Note:
If any readers can suggest software to fit
any of the above requests, please send
name of package, publisher name and
address to Letters Editor at Micro.
(continued)
o«E Of ™e »«'
„„o,.«"'"'^=""'
SOFTALK '^ '
„S flW "StLf"
„.I1M TWS PACKA"
SWJUIO BE 1» '«
L,BBAB< Of fEB'.
,, toK^y^w
COPULA"
lOUCATlO"
;OUPUTlNO
.„BST LEVEL OIA.
PERFECT
USE A
, DOES OBE JOB
,<;,«,ST.CSPAC»AOE
ACI^«
MASTER DIAGNOSTICS
There is only one thing
more important than your
llpippkz
aintaining it
S RUNNING TOO KAST OR
OlD YOU KNOW THAT TH6 DRIVE SP66D OF YOUR APPLE SHOULD BE AS CLOSE TO
300 RPM AS POSSIBLE? LIRE A RECORD OR TAPE SYSTEM VARIES WITH MOTOR SPEED.
SOOOES A DISKETTE
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CLEANED THE flEAD/WSITE HEADS OF YOUR DRIVES'
THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN CLEANED LAST MONTH, ANO WITH OUR PROGRAMMED
UTILITIES YOU COULD DO SO AT THE PUSH OF A BUTTON,
MOW ABOUT THE WRITE PROTECT SWITCh' IS IT WOflKING PROPEflLY SO YOU WONT
DESTROT TOUfl PflOGflAM DISKETTE OR PROTECTED OATA"'
THERE'S LOTS MORE AND IT WILL ONLY TAKE 15 MINUTES A MONTH TO KEEP YOUR HIGH
TECHNOLOGT EOUIPMENT flUNNING AT HIGH PtRFOnMANCE PREVENT PROBLEMS OR DIAGNOSE
PROBLEMS AND SAVE TOUflSELF ONE OF THOSE DAYS
WITH MASTER DIAGNOSTICS ANYONE CAN DO IT.
THE PROGRAM THAT PAYS FOR ITSELF
WHEN ORDERING SPECIFY
version II & II plus or version lie
D master diagnostics $55.00
□ master diagnostics + plus $75.00
DIAL 1-BOa-B35-2246
MOrHfRBOftHD SON TFST
APPLESOIT CARD TEST
INFEGEfl CAHD TEST
MOTHERBOAHO HAM TEST
19K RAM GIRO TEST"
*JX RAM rEST*
80 COLUMN OflO TEST'
PORALLtL ZAfO TEST
SPEAKER fUfOION T-ST
SQUARE VWE MDQJU^TION
OH BOARD HEvP
-Mt rE!)TS INCUJOE
DISK ORIVE SPEED tALISflArDN
DRIVE HEAO REAOWRirE TEST
WfllT^ PROTECT SWITCH TEST
OHIVE HEAD CLEAMNG ROU'INES
aSK DfllVE MAINTENANCE
K HAVfS MtCnOMOOEM II TEa'
PAODl-E & 5PEA«H TEST
RAOOLE i BUTTON TEST
PWOLE OfllFT TEST
INTERNAL MAINTFriANCt
FOTTV PfGE MAWJIL
TMI ^PLUI
MDNITDR SKEWING TESTS
MONITOR 4 MODULATOR
CALIBflATION
MONITOfl TExr PAGE TEST
MONITOR TEST PATTERN
MONITOR S TV TOE ALIGNMENT
LO RES COLDS TESTS
HI RES COLOR TESTS
L'SSWOUS RA1TEBMS
AND HI RES COLOR GcNEflAIOfl
GENEWL MWOTEHANCE
•APPIE ;'E
Hsal*r Ma^MCtlv* * Mwa prtwKUs Bwryttiing nMded n mAiniain )Our computer.
Ths amira packaga i* r>ouaad in our own rnoldad caw m protaa agains «ia(ic a^aarKity.
1-raV B'K) Otnar contammanb
' THE DIAGNOSTICS DISKETTE
■ FORTY RAG6 PROCeOURE MANUAL
I HEAD CLEANING KIT
CFT SCREEN CLEANER
COMPLfTER/DRIVE MOUSING CLEANER
BEUSEABLE CHAMOIS TIPPEO VWNOS
iHkrom'
Technical Products, Inc.
25 Prospect Street, Leominster MA 01453
MICRO
No. 74 ■ August 1984
Moie on the 68000
Gentlemen:
I read with interest Paul Lamar's article
on the 68000 in your fune issue. Like
Paul, I am enthusiastic about the
68000. As I repeatedly read in that
issue, 68000 will indeed be the 6502 of
the 1980's. If I were more tactful, I
would refrain from pointing out th^t I
made exactly that assertion to B^b
Tripp three years ago. \
On page 45, Paul has an incomplete
quote from the 'DTACK GROUNDED
newsletter. In its incompleteness, it
appears to be wrong. Paul asserts that
the 68000/16081 combination can
perform a double precision multiply in
23 microseconds and that is 3 times
faster than an 8086/8087 combination.
Since most folks familiar with the 8087
know it performs a double'precision
multiply in 27.4 microseconds, the
figures do not appear to jibe.
A more complete explanation: the
12.5MHz 68000/6.25MHZ 16081 can
perform the double^precision operation
A = B * C, where A, B and C are
double-precision operands kept in
memory, in 23 microseconds. A 5MH
8086/8087 takes 9 microseconds to
load A, 9 microseconds to load B,27.4
microseconds to perform the
multiplication, and 20 microseconds (!)
to store the result in memory: a total
of 65.4 microseconds. That does not
include the 'EA' (effective address)
time, so a practical Intel system is
in fact about 3 times slower than
the 68000/16081 system. (The 23
microseconds for the 68000/16081
system represents an actual
measurement of a loop repeated
1,000,000 times with the loop
overhead subtracted.)
As you can see, the 8086/8087
system has a considerable overhead
associated with transferring floating
point operands to and from memory.
The reason is that the data
representation used by the 8087
internally is not the same which is
stored in memory, and the conversion
takes an appreciable amount of time.
By way of contrast, the Nat Semi 16081
math chip uses an internal data repre-
sentation which is identical to that
which is stored in memory. Also, the
actual multiplication takes place much
faster - 10 microseconds vs. 27.4.
^^ There are other diffejences between
' the 8087 and the 16081; such as the fact
that the 8087 does most transcendental
calculations as a single command and
the 16081 does not, so the 16081 is
going to be a lot faster than the 8087
when performing linear algebra or
matrix math (where most operands are
kept in memory) while the 8087 will be
faster than the 1 608 1 when calculating
square roots or arc tangents. Nothing is
simple these days, is it?
A very limited number of samples
bf~8.iVlHz8087s existajod-scrdoes a very
limited numSeFoTsamples of lOMHz
16081s. As far as us peasants are
concerned, neither part really exists
right now.
Finally, the application note which
Nat Semi is preparing shows a 68000
slowed down to the same clock speed
as the 16081, which is the way the Nat
Semi 16032 microprocessor has to
work with the 16081. Nat Semi does
not want anybody to know about the
way we use the 16081, running at half
the clock speed of the 68000 because
sH<^h a system can outrun the Nat Semi
corribo when nonfloating point
operations are being performed.
For the record, Digital Acoustics
shipped the first commercial
68000/16081 system in Dec. '83. To
the best of our knowledge, we are the
only ones actually shipping product
toda^.' The fact that lots of folks are
actively working on such systems may
have something to do with the fact that
we published a schematic and a four-
page technical explanation in our
newsletter 25, (10/22/83).
Hal W. Hardenbergh
President, Digital Acoustics, Inc.
iMcno
AN AFFORDABLE
68000
System
for your Apple!
68000 Mainframe architecture is now
available for 8 bit systems with McMILL.
McMILL features the new MC68008
member of the M68000 family, and offers
Apple It, lie users a no frills, low cost 68000
based development system.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE -HEART" OF THE LISA & MACIN-
TOSH SYSTE.MS WHILE STAYING WITH YOUR PRESENT II OR
Me SYSTEM.
McMILL IS BOTH SOURCE & OBJECT CODE COMPATIBLE
WITH ALL 6aOOO PROGRAMS, MAKING YOUR APPLE A
68000 BASED DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM!
McMILL is the 68008 based coprocessor
board that;
•Fits into any slot on Apple II, He or Apple
compatible.
•Uses Apple memory and clock for true
6502/68008 coprocessing.
•Comes witfi ready to run 68000 Fig FORTH and
a 6502/68000 MACRO cross Assembler.
•Carrys a full one year hardware warranty.
•Features ultimate efficiency in design & power
witfi a fully loaded system for UNDER $300.00^.
To order, see vour local dealer of contact:
The Lobero BIdg.
Box 2342
Santa Barbara, CA 93120
(805) 966-1140/ 966-4964
No. 74 - August 1984
1.1*^-' Macintosh, Appleafe tradeniafks of Apple CcBiiputer Ifk. Fi^ Forth o'fVred .is ijublk Horn j in
Iron Mountjinvie'A' Prei5. 6502/68000 Crosi A^senibter from S-C Sollware Corp. McMILL,
triideniiirk of StfllatifMi Two Inc.
MICRO
^po:^i^
Micro-Match
Interface Series
Distributor
Command Computer Corporation
P.O. Box 5096
Philadelphia, PA 19111
Introduction
In this day and age of such a varied host of computers,
peripherals and interfaces, one is left in a state of
confusion as how to get them all together. Command
Computer Corporation's 'Micro-Match' is a great step
forward in helping to resolve this communication
problem. It has been designed to 'take the guesswork and
inefficiency out of interfacing or interconnecting.' What
Micro-Match supports is micros to printers, CRT's,
modems and plotters; micros to minis; and micros to
mainframes. The product comes in two parts; a two
volume product called Blueprints and a second product
called Access Forum.
Blueprints
Blueprints is a set of ready-to-use interfaces. There are
indices by manufacturer and device type. These indices
direct you to sections that list wiring specs, switches
and jumpers, and any other pertinent information. Cross-
referencing makes it easy and fast to find the specifications
and information you need to interface two products. In the
Wiring Specs section whether an interface is parallel or
serial is confirmed, and a diagram is included showing the
actual connections that need to be made on both devices.
Switches and jumpers is the other major section necessary
in interfacing. This part clearly shows you how to
configure your devices using diagrams and notes. The
section entitled General Notes is gold mine of information
that has been gathered into a handy and readable form.
Covering grounding principles, cable length limits, cable
wire types, checklists, plug types, and more, it is an
invaluable aid in telecommunications. Also provided are
Device Notes which show diagrams of the actual units,
where the various ports, buttons and controls are located,
showing all necessary views for a complete picture.
Updating supplements will be provided to each Micro-
Match user every quarter. These will keep the user up-to-
date with new products and their interfaces.
Some of the specific computers and peripherals covered
are: Altos, Apple, AST Research, California Computer
Systems, IBM, Kaypro, Quadram, Tecmar, Televideo,
Hayes, Novation, Anadex, C-Itoh, Comrex, Diablo, NEC,
Epson, Okidata, and more. Additionally, users will be able
to request 'custom interfaces' for devices not covered in
Blueprints.
Access Forum
The second product. Access Forum, is 'an on-going series
of research reports that focus on important products and
topics related to the interfacing of microcomputers and
peripherals with mini and mainframe computers.' This
section is not for the uninitiated but rather is designed
with the data processing manager and professional in
mind. It is an aid to these people who are searching for
specific solutions to their interfacing problems in this
area. The solutions that are focussed on are in the
following areas: downloading/uploading data files
between micros, minis, and mainframes; converting mini
and mainframe software to micros; interfacing micros
with mainframe-compatible tape drives, card readers,
and special input/output devices; connecting micros
with TELEX and commercial timesharing networks;
micro upgrade paths; converting/porting programming
languages; networking micros; converting protocols;
interfacing graphics devices, graphics systems
compatibility, etc.; integrating micros into 3270, SDLC,
and SNA networks. For the users convenience two copies
of the Forum are provided which can be easily removed
and kept handy.
Pricing
Both Blueprints and Access Forum can be purchased for
$690 per year. Beyond the initial products the price
includes 'quarterly Blueprints supplements with
interfaces for devices to be announced in the industry
during the coming year, and three new Access Forum
volumes on new micro-to-mini and micro-to-mainframe
access products and solutions.'
Conclusion
The need for such a product is clear given the ever
increasing number of micros, minis, peripherals, etc. The
problems associated with telecommunications are often
aggravating, time-consuming and difficult. Micro-Match
does indeed fill a nitch that has been neglected. And it
is what it says it is 'a complete, step-by-step system
that
can be used by anyone having minimal computer
experience to successfully implement a complete working
interface between a wide variety of microcomputer
devices and peripherals.' The Access Forum also is an
invaluable source of state-of-the-art information as regards
micro, mini, and mainframe interfacing. Combined both
Blueprints and Access Forum are an investment that can
save time, money and unnecessary problems.
10
MICRO
No. 74 - August 1984
newjuu^
Product Name: When I'm 64
Equipment
Req'd:
Price:
Manufacturer:
Commodore 64 and disk drive
The ALIEN Group
27 West 23rd St.
New York, NY 10010
Description: A sophisticated music synthesizer music
system including vocal parts and an animated face. The
disk is supplied with 30 short demo songs and a short
instruction manual for generating your own music. With
the addition of the ALIEN Group Voice Box, an graphics
screen face also sing the lyrics of the song. In addition to
all of the standard controls (envelope, etc.) the program
also has controls for vibrato, glissando, and accents. Lyrics
are entered in the phonetic alphabet.
Pluses: A screen editor is supplied to easily modify any of
the synthesizer (sound chip) parameters, with immediate
playback and correction of input songs. The notes and
words are easily edited and the face animated to imitate
the lyrics.
Minuses: Any program of this magnitude is going to be
difficult to learn to use all its facets without much study.
Skill level required: No previous background assumed.
Reviewer: Phil Daley
Product Name: BASIC Building Blocks
Equipment
Req'd: Apple II,II + ,IIe - DOS 3.3 (ProDOS
available). Also available for Atari
and C-64.
Micro Education Corp. of America
285 Riverside Avenue
Westport, CT 06880
Manufacturer:
Description: Disk 1: An interactive tutorial in the BASIC
language using over 60 sample programs describing all
facets of beginning programming -I/O, branching, arrays,
strings, graphics and disk access. Disk 2: Basic Design
Tool, a M/L runtime debugging tool to help in
understanding how programs work or why they don't
work. This program is worth the price of the package
alone.
Pluses: While the sample programs are good for the
beginning programmer, the BDT really makes the package
interesting. You can set breakpoints by line number or
variable name; run, trace or step the program; and switch
between the program's screen display and the debugger
display which includes preset variables and their values,
the just executed statement and the next statement to be
executed, and stack information about FOR..NEXTs and
GOSUBs. The documentation, while short is almost
unecessary due to program friendliness.
Minuses: BDT does take up 8K space (above HIMEM) and
pushes the BASIC program above Text Page 2 (it uses Page
2 for its own display), so not all BASIC programs will fit
in the leftover space. PEEKing the keyboard ($C000) also
won't work, although you can RUN past those points.
Skill level required: No previous knowledge for Disk 1.
Some BASIC programming experience for Disk 2.
Reviewer: Phil Daley
Product Name: Write Now!
Equipment
Req'd: Commodore 64 with disk or tape
and printer
Manufacturer: Cardco, Inc.
313 Mathewson
Wichita, KS 67214
Description: A professional word processor with 80
column display for sample output, unlimited length
documents, search and replace, multiple line headers and
footers, justification, block copy and delete and
compatibility with almost any printer. You can select
screen colors, view help screens, get a disk directory,
initialize a disk, rename or scratch files and more, all
from within Write Now!.
Pluses: Unless the file is very large (more than 16K), the
program is very fast, since it is entirely in machine
language. Usable memory is about 30K, but files can be
chained together. The documentation is excellent with a
very good index to find answers to any questions. There is
also a cut-out card to indicate what the control/
Commodore functions are.
Minuses: There is no word wrap! Words are broken at the
end of the lines. You may be able to tell where you are in
80 column display, and you may not. It depends on the
CRT. The search and replace does not function if you try
to replace a character with nothing. There appears to be a
bug - if you have a full file and replace something with a
longer something, it will replace several before stopping,
creating a file longer than allowed and full of gibberish
at the end. Reloading a that saved file gives a Memory
overflow error, which throws away all the gibberish at the
end. The manual says that a joystick will move the cursor;
mine didn't.
Skill level required: No previous experience required.
Reviewer: Phil Daley
No. 74 - August 1984
MICRO
11
Product Name: Songwriter
Equipment
Req'd:
Price:
Manufacturer:
Author:
Commodore 64 and disk drive
Scarborough Systems, Inc.
25 North Broadway
Tarrytown, NY 10591
Samuel Wantman
Description: An educational program that makes it fun to
learn to write songs. Songs are recorded in a piano-roll
style with simple editing commands to alter, add or delete
notes. Songs can be saved on disk with 20 songs
prerecorded. Tempo is variable; songs can be stopped
anywhere and single stepped forwards or backwards.
Sound quality is somewhat variable using the function
keys.
Pluses: Entering songs is extremely simple whether
entering from sheet music or original material. The
duration is set (1/4, l/8th note, etc.) and the pitch
selected from a graphic keyboard with cursor keys or
joystick. Playback can be immediate. The thorough
documentation is easy to read and very complete. This
program can easily used by young children.
Minuses: The program only allows single voice parts.
Unless you are interested in melody only, or have an
Apple, this drawback defeats most of the usefulness of the
Commodore sound chip. It also only allows limited sound
adjustment.
Skill level required: No prior knowledge needed.
Reviewer: Phil Daley
Product Name: Clone Master
Equip. Req'd:
Price:
Manufacturer:
TRS-80 Color Computer,
16K Disk Basic
$34.95
Prickly-Pear Software
9234 E. 30th Street
Tucson, AZ 85710
Description: Clone Master is a disk utility which is
designed to create backup copies of all or selected portions
of user-owned diskettes. It is not designed or intended for
use in the illegal copying of copyrighted software. It will
run on 16K, 32K or 64K Color Computers with at least one
disk drive. The program will check the RPM of the disk
drive before beginning any backup work. If the drive is not
within acceptable parameters, an error message will be
issued to the effect that the drive speed needs adjusting.
Double sided drives are also supported and backup can be
done from one side to the other. Any range of disk tracks
from to 99, inclusive, may be backed up. Backup of
partial diskettes is, therefore, possible.
1/3
Pluses: Clone Master will copy everything that is on a
disk, including errors. It can be used to copy non-Color
Computer diskettes as well, which makes it handy as a
utility if you have other types of computers in addition
to the Color Computer. With 64K machines, the backup
process uses the entire memory available to perform the
backup, necessitating only three disk swaps for single
disk drives as opposed to seven swaps for the Disk Basic
Backup command. The RPM check feature is a good
diagnostic test. Track step rates can be changed and the
program itself can be custom tailored to a user's
configuration and then permanently saved to disk for
future use. Partial copying is a good feature and allows
the user to copy only selected portions of a diskette.
Minuses: The user must know exact contents of a disk if
partial backup is to be used. There is no provision in Clone
Master to view the contents of any disk or the directory.
Documentation: The documentation consists of three
typewritten pages; it is adequate to use the program. All
features are discussed and described in the documentation
and additional technical information is presented for those
who may wish to modify the program for tailored
execution.
Skill level: The program can be used by novice users
with relative ease. It is completely menu driven and error
messages are explained in depth in the documentation.
Reviewer: Norman Garrett
Product Name: Advanced System Editor
Equipment
Req'd:
Manufacturer:
Author:
Apple II,II-F, He -
Volition Systems
P.O. Box 1236
Del Mar, CA 92014
Richard Cleaves
Apple Pascal
Description: ASE is an extended Pascal SYSTEM. EDITOR
running under the Apple UCSD Pascal system. While fully
compatible with the standard editor, including using all
of the standard features and commands, it includes many
enhancements and additional features making it much
more versatile and easy to use. Files are not limited to
memory size and may be as large as an entire disk. A disk
directory, including the first line of the file, is available
from within the editor. Multi-file editing is possible,
making it easy to move sections from one file to another.
ASE also has user definable function keys.
Pluses: The editor is much faster and has many more
commands making text and program editing easier and
more efficient. A backup of the original file is always
saved in case of mistakes. It has a column command to
move whole columns left or right. Installation is easy and
the documentation is superb. If you write many Pascal
programs, you need this editor.
Minuses: None noted.
Skill level required: Familiarity with UCSD Pascal.
Reviewer: Phil Daley
JMOX)
12
MICRO
No. 74 - August 1984
Product Name: Total Health
Equipment
Req'd:
Manufacturer:
Author:
Commodore 64 and disk drive
Computer Software Associates
65 Teed Drive
Randolph, MA 02368
Mark Baier
Description: A program for fitness and heahh enthusiasts
which monitors and encourages good nutrition. The
program has two parts: a file manager of daily food intake
which keeps track of the calories, protein, fat and
carbohydrates consumed on a daily basis,- and a graphing
program to plot your current status toward your final goal.
The package includes a small manual that is not really
needed due to the program's elegant simplicity.
Pluses: The program is easy to use and can be your own
personal weight watcher. Like any dietary aid, it will
encourage you to do well, but the hard part is to stick to
your schedule. The list of foods could be larger, but there
is a provision for adding your own values for unlisted
foods.
Minuses: There aren't many input checks, so the program
crashes relatively easily. I had several problems with the
disk routines.
Skill level required: No prior knowledge necessary.
Reviewer: Phil Daley
Product Name: The Commodore 64 Music Master
Equipment
Req'd:
Manufacturer:
Author:
Commodore 64 and cassette
Softtext, Inc.
Cambridge, MA
James Vogel
Description: A tape of over 50 BASIC music programs for
the C-64 with accompanying book describing how the
programs work, variable listings and logic flow, utilities
for exploring the ADSR, filters and frequency conversions,
and suggestions for making your own music programs.
The programs themselves are generally interesting and
range from simple to complex. The documentation
procedes from a very beginning sound program, stepwise
to more advanced topics.
Pluses: The programs are well documented and can easily
be modified to help in understanding how they work. They
include a wide range of topics and show how to use all of
the features available in the SID chip. It is an excellent
introduction to the sound capabilities of the C-64 in
BASIC.
Minuses: None noted.
Skill level required: A small amount of programming
experience (1 or 2 weeks) to be able to modify the
programs.
Reviewer: Phil Daley
For the
Commodore 64
Telecomputing
ESBJ
with a difference!
SuperTerm — the only software that communicates with
them all! Information networks such as CompuServe;
business and university mainframes; free hobby bulletin
boards.
Professionals and students: SuperTerms VTI02 emulation
gets you on-line in style. Advanced video features, graphics,
full-screen editing, 80/132 column through sidescrolling,
extended keyboard — perfect for £DT, DECMail, etc. Even
download your workfiles and edit off-line! Full printer and
editor support; other emulations available.
Researchers and writers: SuperTerm's built-in text editor
helps you create, edit, print, save, send and receive text
files — articles, stories, reports, inventories, bibliographies - in
short, its your information worl< station. Access
CompuServe, Dow Jones Information Network,
Dialog/Knowledge Index, Western Union's Easylink, The
Source, and many more. Optional Sprinter accessory saves
printing time and S (see below).
Computer hobbyists: Join in the fun of accessing hundreds
of free bulletin board systems (BBS) for Commodore, Apple,
TRS-80, etc. Text mode with all BBS systems: up/downloading
with Commodore BBS systems (Punter protocol). Special
protocol for up/downloading with other SuperTerm owners.
Popular "redial-if-busy" feature for use with automodems.
Get the information you need, for business or for fun,
with the software that communicates with them all!
Requires, Commodore 64, disk dfive, and suitable manual- or aurc-moaem Printer
optional Software on disk 'vv/free backup copy. Extensive manual in deluxe binder
SuperTerm's
SPRINTER Accessory $69'=
With the Sprinter accessory, SuperTerm can perform
concurrent printing — as text appears on your screen, it's
simultaneously printed on your printer Includes all necessary
hardware for connecting your parallel printer and computer
via the cartridge port. Simply plug-in and go. Free utility
software for printing and listing as a stand-alone interface.
Requires parallel printer such as Epson, Gemini, Microline, C Itch
[Min speed 35 cps,;
Commodore 64 is a trademark of Commodore Electronics, Ltd,
\0 I PI OaO- / ZUU y^jj^ ORDER: Add $150 shipping and
lyll^l^^CT handling t$aSO for 0.0.0.); VISA/Mastercard
n I WV t ^ I accepted (card# and exp. date). MO residents
f^l^m%n add S£2S% sales tax. Foreign orders payable
n I VIW inc. us.$. us. Bank ONLY; add $S shpmrdlg.
311 WEST 72nd ST. • KANSAS CITY • MO • 64114
No. 74 ■ August 1984
MICRO
13
Product Name:
Equipment
Req'd:
Miinufiicturer:
Author:
Magic Memory
Apple II,II + ,IIe - DOS 3.3
ARTSCI
5547 Satsuma Ave.
North Hollywood, CA 91601
Executive Software, Inc.
Description: An address-book oriented data-base system
utilizing either 40, 70 or 80 column screen display and
allows up to 9 lines of information per entry. Entries are
saved under a TAB name - there are 48, 24 alphabetic and
24 user defined. Each set of TAB entries is saved in its own
text file, TAB files may be sorted on any field, left or right
hand sort, and the sorted file may replace the original.
Pluses: The documentation is very good and the program
is very easy to use, especially for a novice. For names,
addresses and similar short entry type of information, the
program is very good. It has flexible printouts and entries
can be easily replicated into other tab files for cross-
reference ability without retyping.
Minuses: The program has a limited scope of useage. The
field format is preset and unchangeable. There is no
searching ability to find a particular record, other than
flipping through records one at a time.
Skill level required: No previous knowledge necessary.
Reviewer: Phil Daley
089
APPLICATION
SOFTWARE
ACCOUNTS
PAYABLE
$349
ACCOUNTS
RECEIVABLE
$349
GENERAL
LEDGER
with
CASH
JOURNAL
$449
PAYROLL
$549
SMALL
BUSINESS
INVENTORY
$349
COMPLETE DOCUMENTATION $19.95
0S9 & BASIC 09 ARE TRADEMARK OF
MICROWARE, INC. & MOTOROLA CORP.
SPECIALTY
ELECTRONICS
(405) 233-5564
2110 W. WILLOW - ENID, OK 73701
Product Name: 64 Doctor
Equipment
Req'd:
Manufacturer:
Author:
Commodore 64 and disk drive
Computer Software Associates
44 Oak St.
Newton Upper Falls, MA 02164
Eric Berkowitz &. David Pollack
Description: A diagnostic aid to troubleshoot your C-64
including RAM, keyboard and audio, and associated
peripherals - disk drive, printer, cassette, joystick, and
video unit. They can be tested individually or in an auto-
test mode. Any problems encountered are printed on the
screen.
Pluses: The disk and short instruction manual are a
lesson in user friendliness. The program uses an
interesting graphic presentation to simplify use. Problems
are clearly spelled out with a suggestion to take the
offending equipment to a repairman.
Minuses: If the C-64 is not working or the disk drive
won't load a program, you'll never get this program in to
determine what's wrong. Saving a copy on a cassette
would probably be a good idea.
Skill level required: No prior knowledge necessary.
Reviewer: Phil Daley
Product Name: The Computer Mechanic
Equipment
Req'd:
Manufacturer:
Commodore 64 and Disk Drive
Softsync, Inc.
14 East 34th St.
New York, NY 1 00 1 6
Description: This program is a computerized automotive
instruction and diagnostic tool. It teaches an auto novice
about possible causes of various problems and the
recommended time intervals between certain checks and
maintainence. Covered topics include oil change, brake
job, transmission check, tune up and tire rotation. The
program will also save a file on up to 100 different
vehicles, to help keep track of the last performed
maintainence dates.
Pluses: The program is extremely easy to use and requires
almost no instruction manual. There are interesting
graphics of the various parts of a car.
Minuses: If you know almost anything about cars, this
program is too simple to be of any value. The save the date
section of maintainence might be useful if the program
looked to see when maintainence is due, but it doesn't.
You have to look at the individual records and then write
them down while you look at the maintainence interval
section to see if any is due. No printer output.
Skill level required: None
Reviewer: Phil Daley
le<it«(ne
A Relocatable
Step/¥[?gi©i
3HE
DQE
EJDE
nn r i nr:
3aE
SHE
Step & Trace program can be moved easily to any
part of your program.
SHE
3QE
3QE
SHE
by Chester H. Page
sm
S:K::::;;A=S::::::SJ:::::::;;^:::-;-;:r::::-:::-:-:::-:^-::;;:;;:v:::::::>
SiiiiiiSliiiiiiii^^
o
Listing 1
o
0022
W EQU $22
002F
LGTH EQU $2F
0033
PRMP EQU $33
o
003A
YSAV EQU $34
003A
PCL EQU $3A
003B
PCH EQU $3B
003C
XQT EQU $3C
o
0048
STAT EQU $48
0100
STCK EQU $100
0670
UW EQU $670
0674
TW EQU $674
o
C000
KBRD EQU $C000
F882
INSD EQU $F882
F8D0
DISA EQU $F8D0
o
F954
ADJ2 EQU $F954
F956
ADJ3 EQU $F956
FAD7
REGD EQU $FAD7
FADA
RODS EQU $FADA
o
FC22
VTAB EQU $FC22
FD67
GETL EQU $FD67
FDED
COUT EQU $FDED
o
FE00
BLl EQU $FE00
FE75
AlPC EQU $FE75
FF3A
BEU EQU $FF3A
FF3F
RSTR EQU $FF3F
^oii
©
FF4A
SAVE EQU $FF4A
FFA7
GETN EQU $FFA7
FF58
RTRN EQU $FF58
FFBE
TSUB EQU $FFBE
m
FFC5
TSBl EQU $FFC5
'%^.
FFC7
ZMOD EQU $FFC7
■;;.;;;:;:■
FFCC
CHRT EQU $FFCC
■;::.;:it
©
»
* INITIALIZE WINDOW AREAS
»
ORG $7000
®
OBJ $800
7000 A9 00
LDA #0
t
No. 74 - August 1984
MICRO
MICRO on the Apple, Vol. 2, contains
a Step and Trace program for the Apple
n + ; it is an adaptation of the step and
trace routines in the old monitor ROM,
so has the same problems. The article
warns that DOS causes trouble when it
changes an output hook, as in the
COUT routine, but there is no warning
about the other problems I encountered
on my first attempt to use the program.
The user program I wanted to trace
contained a printing routine of the
type:
LDX ifTEXT
LDY /TEXT
JSR PRINT
PRINT STX PTR
STY PTR+1
LDY #0
LOOP LDA (PTR),Y
BEQ DONE
JSR COUT
INY
JMP LOOP
DONE RTS
where TEXT is the address of the data:
8D D4 C5 D8 D4 00. This asks to print
a carriage return (for a fresh line), the
word "TEXT" and to leave on reading
the zero byte.
The DOS problem is easily solved
by BLOADing STEP/TRACE, then dis-
connecting DOS by entering PR#0,
IN#0.
My first imexpected problem was
15
Wi&MWMmiMS0'
■m:M
l.sllsiPlililiiliili^^^^
7002 85 22
STA W
©
7004 A9 14
LDA #$14
7006 85 23
STA W+1
caused by the carriage return ($8D).
7008 A9 13
LDA #$13
Somehow this gets repetitively tangled
700A 85 25
STA W+3
with the returns in the disassembly
©
700C A9 16
700E 8D 70 06
LDA #$16
STA UW
routine, with the result that the screen
7011 A9 18
LDA #$18
is scrolled with a complete set of blank
7013 8D 71 06
STA UW+1
lines and the trace program left in an
©
7016 A9 00
LDA #0
infinite loop of scrolling commands!
7018 8D 72 06
STA UW+2
Removing the 8D uncovered a second
701B A9 17
LDA #$17
problem. In COUT, Y is saved [in
©
701D 8D 73 06
*
STA UW+3
YSAVl, $35) and restored after the
actual printing is performed. But each
7020 D8
STRT
OLD
of the intermediate steps is processed
7021 20 3A FF
JSR BELL
by Step-Trace, using COUT to display
©
7024 A9 2A
7026 85 33
CONT
LDA #$2A
STA PRMP
these steps. The net result is that when
7028 20 67 FD
JSR GETL
the COUT routme m the user program
702B 20 C7 FF
JSR ZMOD
is finished, it always restores Y to and
o
702E 20 A7 FF NXTI
JSR GETN
the second letter of text (Y=l) is
7031 84 34
STY YSAV
printed repetitively.
7033 C9 EC
TRYS
CMP #$EC
The third problem is that the letters
©
7035 F0 0B
BEQ ENT2
that do get printed overwrite a
7037 C9 ED
TRYT
CMP #$ED
character in the command display, so
7039 D0 0D
BNE TRCR
that they are not evident. I decided to
©
703B AD 00 C0
LDA KBRD
modify Step-Trace to eliminate these
703E 30 22
7040 C6 34
BMI AGIN
DEC YSAV
problems.
7042 20 C7 FF
ENT2
JSR ZMOD
The first two were cured by
©
7045 B8
CLV
examining each command to see if it is
7046 50 21
BVC STPZ
"JSR COUT". When this is
7048 C9 C6
TRCR
CMP #$C6
encountered, the COUT routine is
704a D0 09
BNE MCMD
called directly by my trace program so
©
704c 20 C5 FF
JSR TSBl
that it will not be traced stepwise. This
704F 20 00 FE
JSR BLl
also eliminated the problem with DOS;
7052 B8
CLV
DOS no longer needs to be
®
7053 50 CF
BVC CONT
disconnected. The third problem is
7055 A0 17
MCMD
LDY #$17
cured by establishing a split screen;
7057 88
CHRS
DEY
whenever the substitute COUT is to be
®
7058 30 C6
705A D9 CC FF
BMI STRT
CMP CHRT,Y
called, the window parameters being
705D D0 F8
BNE CHRS
used by the trace program (window top,
705F 20 BE FF
JSR TSUB
bottom, horizontal and vertical cursor
7062 a4 34
AGIN
LDY YSAV
positions) are saved and replaced by a
©
7064 B8
CLV
user set. After a text-character printout,
7065 50 C7
BVC NXTI
this user set is saved and the trace-
7067 50 B7
RS3
BVC STRT
program set replaced. With this
©
7069 20 75 FE
STPZ
JSR AlPC
modification, the TEXT is printed out
706C 20 D0 F8 STEP
JSR DISA ; DISPLAY INSTRUCTION
properly in the two bottom screen lines
706F A2 02
LDX #2
and all program display is kept above it
7071 A9 EA
XQIN
LDA #$EA
(with a blank gap between].
©
7073 95 3C
7075 CA
STA XQT,X
DEX
All these improvements lengthen
7076 D0 F9
»
BNE XQIN
the program so that it will no longer fit
in the $300 page. Since it should be
©
^INITIALIZE EXECUTE AREA WITH NOP'S AND RETURN JUMPS
useful for tracing a program located
»
anywhere, it should be written in
7078 20 58 FF
JSR RTRN
relocatable form so that it can be used
©
707B B8
CLV
by BRUN STEP/TRACE, AX where X
707C 50 0E
BVC BR
is any convenient location that avoids
707E 18
BRAN
CLC
the program to be examined. The
©
707F A0 01
LDY #1
internal jumps were converted to
7081 Bl 3A
7083 20 56 F9
7086 85 3A
LDA (PCL),Y
JSR ADJ3
STA PCL
relative jumps using CLV followed by
BVC and relay points inserted when the
©
7088 98
TYA
jump distances were too large. The
7089 38
SEC
708A B0 60
BCS R2 ; JUMP TO PCN2
708C BA
BR
TSX ; LOCATE BRAN AND INSERT JUMP COMMAND
16
MICRO
No. 74 ■ August 1984
^;;■i|i:||ii::;?i;.;:|" ;:■:;?;.: ■: ;■::, ;. , ;: ;.;; . ■ ■
708D
CA
DEX
708E
18
CLC
o
only real problem was figuring out how
708F
BD 00 01
LDA STCK,X
to convert the routine for installing the
7092
69 0A
ADC #A
jump commands that follow the copied
709A
85 A3
STA XQT+7
user-program command at $3C, since
7096
E8
INX
o
the commands to be transferred are
7097
BD 00 01
LDA STCK,X
themselves internal program jumps [to
709A
69 00
ADO #0
NBRN and BRAN, for returns from
"no-branch" and "branch"
709C
709E
85 AA
A9 AC
STA XQT+8
LDA #$AC
o
70A0
85 3F
STA XQT+3
operations).
70A2
85 A2
STA XQT+6
I solved this problem by eliminating
70AA
20 58 FF
JSR RTRN
o
these jump instructions from the trace
70A7
B8
CLV
program and installing the NBRN and
70A8
50 0A
BVC NB
BRAN addresses directly into the jump
70AA
20 AA FF NBRN
JSR SAVE ; SAVE USER REGISTERS
commands at $3F/44. This is done by
70AD
38
SEC
o
using a location finding routine at
70AE
B0 AA
BCS R3 ; JUMP TO PCN3
BRAN and again at NBRN.
*
I first tried doing this with BRAN
70B0
50 B5
RS2
BVC RS3 RELAY
o
and NBRN at the beginning of the
70B2
50 AE
RA3
*
BVO AGIN RELAY
program so that the self-locating
70BA
BA
NB
TSX ; LOCATE NBRN AND INSERT JUMP COMMAND
routine wouldn't have to be repeated
70B5
CA
DEX
©
with every user command, but could be
70B6
18
CLC
used once as part of the initialization.
70B7
BD 00 01
LDA STCK.X
Unfortunately, some of the monitor
70BA
69 0^^
ADC #A
subroutines such as GETN in NXTI use
70BC
85 A0
STA XQT+A
some of the memory locations right
70BE
E8
INX
after $3C and the initialization gets
70BF
BD 00 01
LDA STOK,X
overwritten. My second try was to
70C2
69 00
ADC #0
©
move the XQT area from $3C to $E0,
70CA
85 Al
»
STA XQT+5
since this would be interfered with
» COPY USER COMMAND TO XEQ AREA
only by HiRes graphics. This worked
»
fine, but then I realized that the $E0
70C6
A2 00
LDX #0
area is sometimes used for program
70C8
Al 3A
LDA (POL,X)
pointers in non-graphics programs, so
70CA
F0 3A
BEQ XBl ; JUMP TO XBRK
that there could be interference. For
70CC
AA 2F
LDY LGTH
this reason, I finally put NBRN and
70CE
C9 20
OMP #$20
BRAN in the XQIN area, where the $3C
70D0
F0 38
BEQ CHECK
region is initialized before each
70D2
09 60
OMP #$60
o
program command.
70DA
70D6
F0 32
C9 ^C
BEQ XRl ; JUMP TO XRTS
CMP #$AC
The final decision to be made
70D8
F0 28
BEQ XI
concerned the storage of window
70DA
C9 60
OMP #$60
©
parameters. Again, zero page is out
70DC
F0 26
BEQ XT
because of possible interference with
70DE
C9 ^<i
CMP #$A0
user programs. There are nice unused
70E0
F0 76
BEQ XRTI
o
areas available up in DOS, but again
70E2
29 IF
AND #$1F
there can be interference; I have used
70EA
A9 lA
EOR #$1A
many of these locations for data storage
70E6
09 0A
CMP #A
in long complex programs that exhaust
70E8
70EA
F0 02
Bl 3A
XQl
BEQ XQ2
LDA (POL),Y
©
zero page.
70EC
99 30 00 XQ2
STA XQT,Y
For a trace program at a fixed
70EF
88
DEY
o
location the window parameters could
70F0
10 F8
BPL XQl
be stored within the program, but I was
70F2
20 3F FF
JSH HSTR ; RESTORE USER REGISTERS
soon convinced that relocatability
70F5
AC 30 00
JMP XQT
would be too complicated. My final
»
o
choice was to dedicate one screen line
70F8
B0 66
R2
BOS PCN2 ; RELAY
to this storage. Smce I wanted a blank
70FA
B0 66
R3
BOS PCN3 ; RELAY
area to separate the trace window from
70FC
50 AO
RN
BVO NBRN ; RELAY
o
the user window, I put the window
70FE
7100
50 B0
50 B0
RSI
RA2
BVC RS2 ; REUY TO STRT
BVC RA3 ; REUY TO AGIN
parameter storage at the end of one of
7102
F0 73
XI
BEQ XJMP ; RELAY
710A
F0 72
XT
BEQ XJAT ; REUY
o
7106
F0 A5
XBl
BEQ XBRK ; REUY
7108
F0 52
XRl
»
BEQ XRTS ; REUY
No. 74 - August 1984
MICRO
17
iiiiii-iiiiiiiM^^
mWMMw::m;ti'':fi
MM'MSM:WMi:'y''Ptii.:i:-MM:PS£sMM:i'\i
B
710A A0 01
CHECK
LDY #1
;IS COMMAND COUT?
© 710C Bl 3A
LDA (PCL),Y
these blank lines. (It shows as 8 inverse
'■>M
710E C9 ED
CMP #$ED
characters at the right.)
■^■Wi
7110 D0 5A
© 7112 C8
7113 Bl 3A
7115 C9 FD
BNE XJSR
INY
LDA (PCL),Y
CMP #$FD
The final program still suffers from
a very slight defect: it will not tolerate
PR#1 or a machine loading of CSWL to
7117 D0 53
BNE XJSR
activate the printer.
© 7119 A2 03
LDX #3
; USER COMMAND IS COUT
To test this Step/Trace program,
711B B5 22
SVT
LDA W,X
; SAVE TRACE WINDOW
[1)RUN TEST, enter FF58S CR , then
m
711D 9D 7A 06
STA TW,X
S CR ,.... or (2) HOME, enter the
- 7120 CA
^ 7121 10 F8
DEX
TEXT program below, BRUN
BPL SVT
STEP/TRACE, AI23A5, enter
III
7123 A2 03
LDX #3
300S CR , S CR , .... or 300T CR .
7125 BD 70 06
LDU
LDA UW,X
; LOAD USER WINDOW
7128 95 22
STA W,X
10 REM TEST
:.:■:■,;:■:
712A CA
DEX
712B 10 F8
BPL LDU
m
712D 20 22 FC
JSR VTAB
; POSITION CURSOR
20 PRINT CHRSJC-;)
® 7130 20 3F FF
JSR RSTR
; RESTORE USER REGISTERS
' 'BRUN STEP/TRACE":
7133 20 ED FD
JSR COUT
; PRINT IN USER AREA
PRINT "HELLO"
7136 A2 03
LDX #3
7138 B5 22
svu
LDA W,X
; SAVE USER WINDOW
30 END
713A 9D 70 06
STA UW,X
713D CA
DEX
TEXT
713E 10 F8
BPL SVU
© 71^0 A2 03
LDX #3
CALL - 151
&■
71A2 BD 7A 06 LDT
LDA TW,X
; LOAD TRACE WINDOW
7U5 95 22
7lA7 CA
STA W,X
DEX
300 :A2 18 A0 03 20 07 03 86 06
III
® 7U8 10 F8
BPL LDT
8A 07 A0 00 Bl 06 F0 06 20 ED FD
71AA B8
CLV
C8 10 F6 00 8D DA C5 D8 DA 00
7UB 50 AF
BVC RN
; JUMP TO NBRN
'sis
@ 71AD 20 82 F8
7150 20 DA FA
7153 B8
XBRK
JSR INSD
JSR RGDS
CLV
1 ■
1 3lf^i3J[i^3MM '
715A 50 A8
BVC RSI
; JUMP TO STRT
1
;i|
© 7156 50 A8
RAl
BVC RA2
; RELAY TO AGIN
■ SI«-fl^Bff^^EI^^^^Z
1
■^■■■M
7158 18
XRTI
CLC
1 ="'-JnvMi^HMyr^^H
1
7159 68
PLA
>:S--::
^ 715A 85 A8
715C 68
STA STAT
1 At last! ...A dual 6522 versatile '
;:::S':i
XRTS
PLA
1 interface adapter (VIA) board 1
■^M:
715D 85 3A
STA PCL
1 for the Commodore-64.
>m
715F 68
PLA
1 The 6522 VIA, long the preferred 1
iM[
© 7160 85 3B
PCN2
STA PCH
' input/output chip for 6502 mi-
1 crocomputers, is now available for the 1
7162 A5 2F
PCN3
LDA LGTH
1 C-64. 6522 programming techniques, '
Mi
716A 20 56 F9
JSR ADJ3
1 covered in many available books, can now |
7167 8A 3B
STY PCH
1 be applied to the C-64 for even the most 1
® 7169 18
sophisticated real-time control appiica- ■
^:M
CLC
1 tions. Board allows full use of the IRQ |
■:-:::-!^:
716A 90 U
BCC NEWP
interrupt. When combined with the
S;S
716C 18
XJSR
CLC
1 C-64's memory capacity, it provides an 1
© 716D 20 5A F9
7170 AA
JSR ADJ2
' extremely powerful yet cost-effective de-
,;:;■;■>;:
1 velopment system and controller in one 1
■S--::;:
TAX
1 package. Includes extensive application '
:>>/:iii
7171 98
TYA
1 notes and programming examples. |
sSis;
7172 A8
PHA
1 Up to four boards can be connected to- 1
® 7173 8A
TXA
gether, providing sixteen 8-bit ports. ■
;■;■■:::■;
1 Order Model 64IF22, $169 for one, post- |
■to:"--
717A A8
PHA
paid USA. Each additional $149.
|i;:;s;
7175 A0 02
LDY §2
1 Complete reconstructeci Assembly Lan- I
f» 7177 18
^ 7178 Bl 3A
XJMP
CLC
guage source code for the C-64's BASIC anci
:;■;;;;;;;;
XJAT
LDA (PCL),Y
1 KERNALROMs,alll6K! 1
>^-:-;-:
717A AA
TAX
. referenced. Far more than a mere "memory 1
■::■;;=>
717B 88
DEY
1 map" of useful locations, this book really does |
|;p
© 717C Bl 3A
LDA (PCL),Y
tell all. An incredible time-saver in effective
1 C-64 programming and understanding. Order |
717E 86 3B
7180 85 3A
NEWP
STX PCH
STA PCL
1 C-64 Source $29.95, postpaid USA.
■
1 SCHNEDLER SYSTEMS
1
7182 B0 F3
BCS XJMP
1 1501 N. Ivanhoe, Dept. M8 '
® 718A 20 D7 FA
JSR REGD
; DISPLAY USER REGISTERS
1 Arlington, VA 22205 |
1 Telephone orders/information: (703) 237-4796 |
7187 B8
7188 50 CC
CLV
BVC RAl
; JUMP TO AGIN
■ VISA MASTERCARD
18
MICRO
No. 74- August 1984
{,e^citc<ne
Constructing Truly 3-D Mazes
by Dr. Alan Stankiewicz
=iPi i i nr:
=nn i in i i n i i n i i n i i m
Get a rat's eye view of the maze corridors as you
\Na\k through them.
^n [=^^^ rnr^=^=HTil _._17: iHI IRF
Just a few months ago, I remember
reading an article in this journal
concerning the construction of random
mazes. The methods described were all
quite interesting, however, they all had
one thing in common - they were two-
dimensional. Today, I will
demonstrate a method of generating
truly 3-dimensional random mazes on
your computer with a minimum of
effort and memory. To do this, I will be
referring to a program called "Space
Maze", written on the unexpanded
VIC-20, reprinted here with permission
from Victory Software Corporation. To
emphasize the fact that not much
memory is needed, this particular
program will not only generate and
store the maze but will actually give
you a 3-dimensional rat's-eye view of
the corridors as you walk through -all
in 3 l/2Kof RAM!
To start, you must envision a solid
cube which is made up of a large
number of smaller cubes, each of which
are numbered according to the scheme
shown in figure 1. Each of these smaller
cubes will correspond to a byte in your
computer's memory such that a maze 6
high, 8 wide and 13 deep will take up a
block of memory 624 bytes long. This
block may be stored anywhere in RAM
but in this program, it begins at
location 6751 and ends at 7375. The
initial construction of this cube is done
in line 9 by simply poking the number
"2" into each of these bytes, indicating
that they now represent a solid section
of the maze.
The next major step in the creation
of this maze is to wormhole our way
through this cube from the front wall to
the back wall in a random fashion, thus
creating the main pathway. However,
before this can be accomplished, we
must further organize the large cube so
that as we are drilling our way through,
we will have some way of recognizing
when we reach an outside wall and
when we reach the exit (back wall). To
accomplish this, we poke 4's into the
bytes which represent the back wall
and 3's into the bytes representing the
left side, front and top walls (lines 9
and 30). Note that this procedure is not
necessary for the right side or bottom
wall (the reason will become apparent
later).
Now that the limits of the cube are
clearly marked, the drilling process
may begin. The starting location for the
main path in this program is selected to
be 6808 which is the byte (or small
block) located one layer down from the
top, one layer in from the front and one
layer over from the left (this would be
block number 58 in figure 11. The
number "1" will be poked in this
location to show that it is now a
"drilled out" byte and the variable "L"
is set equal to 6808 (our present
location). From here, we choose a
random direction to start moving, but
before drilling in that direction, we
must peek the location directly in front
of our drill to make sure it is not an
outside wall (designated by a 3) . If it is,
another direction will have to be
chosen. If it is an inside solid portion
No. 74- August 1984
MICRO
19
(designated by a 2) then we will precede
to drill out two bytes in that direction
by poking I's there and reassigning "L"
equal to the location of the most
freshly drilled out byte. The reason for
moving two bytes at a time is so there
will always be a wall between every
corridor. After each drilling, the
decision is made whether or not to
change directions. For a more complex
maze, of course, you would want to
change directions more frequently.
When you finally peek a "4", you
know that you hit the back wall and
your main path is complete, front to
back. There is one difficulty which
exists with this method, however, and
that is the possibility of drilling
yourself into an area which is totally
surrounded by 3's and/or I's with no
possibility of finding a "2" (an
undrilled inside byte) no matter which
direction you look. This situation is
easily resolved, however, by allowing
yourself to backtrack over the main
path every so often and as you do this.
to fill up these "dead ends" with 3's
(line 58) so you will never go there
again. Backtracking can be kept to a
minimum by only allowing it to occur,
for example, after every 20th direction
change.
In addition to controlling the
frequency of direction changes, the
difficulty level of the maze can also be
regulated by setting a minimum length
for the main path, that is, if in the
drilling process you peek a "4", check
the length of the main path (line 55). If
it is not yet long enough, then change
directions and continue to drill. The
length of the main path is continuously
monitored in "Space Maze" by adding
2 to the variable "U" every time you
drill (line 54). Also don't forget to
subtract from U when backtracking.
We now have a cube with a
wormhole bored through it from front
to back. The next major step, of course,
is to create side paths to confuse the
mouse. This task is accomplished in
exactly the same manner as the main
path, only we now start at randomly
selected bytes on the main path and
continue for variable distances
outward. If memory permits, you may
even want to differentiate the side
paths by poking a "5" into these
bytes, thereby creating a method of
distinguishing the main path from the
side paths during the display of the
maze.
This brings us to the final problem
of how to display our truly 3-D maze on
a 2-D television screen. One technique
is to display successive layers of the
maze, as if you were able to slice it up
with a knife and show one slice at a
time (figure 2). Another more dramatic
representation is to let the user
' ' walk' ' through the maze, giving him a
3-dimensional view of the passageways
as shown in figures 3, 4 & 5. At first
glance, the production of this type of
display would seem quite complicated,
but in principle, all that is required
is to draw a big "X" on the TV screen
to represent a long hallway and then fill
in the doorways as you scan that
particular area of the maze. The
detailed mechanics of this process are
beyond the scope of this article,
however, a BASIC program written
fairly efficiently can usually draw up
such a picture in 2-3 seconds.
I hope this short discussion has
succeeded in arousing some interest in
maze-building and I would be very
interested to hear from anyone who has
been able to generate and/or display a
4-dimensional maze!
MICRO
No. 74 - August 1984
o
POKE 36879, U:POKE 45,47:P0KE ';6,22:P0KE 55,196:POKE 56,22:CLR:
Listing 1 PRINT "{PURPLEJSTOP TAPE":GOTO 8
1 I=-N»(M=1)-N»8»(M=2)-N»Y»(M=3). -0=1+1 :RETURN
2 N=-1-(RND(8)> .5)»2:M=INT(RND(8)»3+1):RETURN
3 GOTO 300
4 G=255:POKE 840, F AND G:POKE 842, R AND G:POKE 843, D AND G:
POKE 841, -D AND G:POKE 844, -R AND G
5 POKE 1,L/256:P0KE 0,L-PEEK(1)»256:PRINT"{CLEAR} ":
POKE 7713,PEEK(C+6634):P0KE 36876, 248:SYS 7448
6 POKE 36878,. :POKE L,Z:G0T0 97
8 WAIT 37151,64:A=7375:Y=48:B=6751:INPUT"LEVEL(0-9)";V:V=.013»V+.3:
J=RND(-TI) : PRINT "WORKING;
9 TI$= "000000 ":L=6808: FOR J=B TO A: POKE J, 2: NEXT: FOR J=7327 TO A:
POKE J, 4: NEXT .-FOR J=B TO 6799: POKE J, 3: NEXT
30 FOR J=0 TO 12: FOR K=B+J»Y TO B+8+J»Y:P0KE K, 3: NEXT:
FOR K=B+J»Y TO 6791+J»Y STEP 8:P0KE K, 3: NEXT: NEXT: POKE L,l
41 GOSUB 2
42 X=X+1:G0SUB 1:IF RND(8)<V THEN 4l
54 G=PEEK(L+I):IF PEEK(L+0)=2 AND G-3 THEN POKE L+I,1:L=L+0:P0KE L,l:
U=U+2:G0T0 42
55 IF G=4 THEN IF U> (V-.3)»288 THEN POKE L+I,5:
PRINT U "STEPS TO EXIT": GOTO 66
58 IF G=l AND INT(X/9)=X/9 THEN POKE L,2:P0KE L+I,3:L=L+0:U=U-2:
IF TI§B THEN U=0:GOTO 9
60 GOTO 41
66 FOR J=l TO (V-.3)»677
68 L=B-l+INT(RND(8)»4+l)»2+INT(RND(8)»3+l)*l6+INT(RND(8)»6+l)»96-56
70 IF PEEK(L)-1 THEN 68
72 FOR K=l TO 6:G0SUB 1:IF RND(8)< .3 THEN 82
76 G=PEEK(L+I):
IF PEEK(L+0)=2 THEN IF G-3 THEN IF G-5 THEN POKE L+I,l:L=L+0:
POKE L,1:NEXT: GOTO 86
82 GOSUB 2: NEXT
86 NEXT:FOR J=B TO A: IF PEEK(J)>2 AND PEEK(J)<5 THEN POKE J, 2
95 NEXT :F=1:R=-8:D=-Y:M=37151:N=M+1:X=M+3:E=1: 0=197 :B=B+8:L=6808:
PRINT "{CLEAR}": POKE 36869,255 : GOTO 3
97 WAIT 0,64:G=PEEK(M):IF G-94 AND G-126 THEN 97 O
98 POKE X, 127: IF PEEK(N)-247 THEN 98
115 POKE X, 127: IF PEEK (N) =119 THEN 200
120 POKE X,255:G=PEEK(M):IF G=122 THEN J=PEEK(L+F) : -.
IF J-2 AND J-5 THEN L=L+F:GOTO 3
125 IF G=118 THEN J=PEEK(L-F) :IF J-2 AND J-5 THEN L=L-F:GOTO 3
130 J=R:IF G=110 THEN R=F:F=-J:GOTO 3
135 IF G=78 THEN R=-D:D=J:GOTO 3 O
140 J=F:IF G=86 THEN F=-D:D=J:GOTO 3
145 IF G=90 THEN F=D:D=-J:GOTO 3
150 G=PEEK(0):IF 0=52 AND B> 6766 THEN B=B-8:G0T0 3
155 IF 0=12 AND B<6784 THEN B=B+8:G0T0 3 ^
160 IF 0=8 THEN E=-E : PRINT" {CLEAR} ": GOTO 3
190 GOTO 115
200 POKE X, 255: IF PEEK (M) =94 THEN J=D:D=-R:R=J:GOTO 3 q
210 J=R:R=-F:F=J
300 J=ABS(F):J(=ABS(D) :
C=((l-(J>l)-(J>8))»SGN(F)+3)»7+(l-(K§l)-(K>8))»SGN(-D)+3
310 POKE 834,PEEK(6634+C):Z=PEEK(L):P0KE L,9:IF E-1 THEN 4 O
320 J=INT(B/256):P0KE 1,B-J»256:P0KE 2,J:SYS 7376:G0T0 6
Editor's Note: As a service to MICRO
leaders, the creators of this program q
will make it available on cassette.
Send $3.00 to:
Victory Software Corporation
1410 Russell Road ^
Paoli, PA 19301
iMCftO
No. 74 ■ August 1984 MICRO 21
FLOPPY DISKS SALE *$1.19 ea.
Economy Model or Cadillac Quality
LOR>IN
CEBHHED PtBSONAl
COMPUIEB aSK
We have the lowest prices! iorah
CEBIIHtD PSBSONAl
. COMPUIEB DISK
*ECONOMY DISKS
Good quality 5V4 " single sided single density with hub rings.
Bulk Pac 100 Qty. $1,19 ea.
10Qty. 1.39 ea.
Total Price
Total Price
$119.00
13.90
CADILLAC QUALITY (double density)
• Each disk certified • Free replacement lifetime warranty • Automatic dust remover
For those who want cadillac quality we have the Loran Floppy Disk. Used by professionals because they can rely
on Loran Disks to store important data and programs without fear of loss! Each Loran disk is 100% certified (an
exclusive process) plus each disk carries an exclusive FREE REPLACEMENT LIFETIME WARRANTY, With Loran
disks you can have the peace of mind without the frustration of program loss after hours spent in program
development.
100% CERTIFICATION TEST
Some floppy disk manufacturers only sample test on a batch basis the disks they sell, and then claim they are
certified. Each Loran disk is individually checked so you will never experience data or program loss during your
lifetime!
FREE REPLACEMENT LIFETIME WARRANTY
We are so sure of Loran Disks that we give you a free replacement warranty against failure to perform due to faul-
ty materials or workmanship for as long as you own your Loran disk.
AUTOMATIC DUST REMOVER
Just like a record needle, disk drive heads must travel hundreds of miles over disk surfaces. Unlike other floppy
disks the Loran smooth surface finish saves disk drive head wear during the life of the disk. (A rough surface will
grind your disk drive head like sandpaper). The lint free automatic CLEANING LINER makes sure the disk-killers
(dust & dirt) are being constantly cleaned while the disk is being operated. PLUS the Loran Disk has the highest
probability rate of any other disk in the industry for storing and retaining data without loss for the life of the disk.
Loran is definitely the Cadillac disk in the world
Just to prove it even further, we are offering these super LOW INTRODUCTORY PRICES
List $4.99 ea. INTRODUCTORY SALE PRICE $2.99 ea. (Box of 10 only) Total price $29.90
$3.33 ea. (3 quantity) Total price $9.99
All LORAN disks come with hub rings and sleeves in an attractive package.
■
^HIHHH^^^^^H^^HHH^^^^HI^^^^^^^H
■
DISK DRIVE CLEANER M9.95
Everyone needs a disk drive doctor
FACTS
• 60% of all drive downtime is directly related to poorly maintained drives.
• Drives should be cleaned each week regardless of use.
• Drives are sensitive to smoke, dust and all micro particles.
• Systematic operator performed maintenance is the best way of ensuring error free use of your computer
system.
The Cheetah disk drive cleaner can be used with single or double sided S'A" disk drives. The Cheetah is an
easy to use fast method of maintaining efficient floppy dislcette drive operation.
The Cheetah cleaner comes with 2 dislcs and is paclced in a protective plastic folder to prevent contamination.
List $29.95 / Sale $19.95 * Coupon $16.<5
1
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H
1
Add $3.00 for shipping, handling and Insurance. Illinois residents
please add 6% tox Add $6 00 for CANADA, PUERTO RICO, HAWAII,
ALASKA, APQ.FPO orders. Conadian orders must be in U.S. dollars.
WE DO NOT EXPORT TO OTHER COUNTRIES.
Enclose Cashiers Check, Money Order or Personal Chock, Allow )4
days for delivery, 2 to 7 doys for phone orders, 1 doy express mail!
VISA — MASTER CARD — COD,
No COD. to Conodo, APO-FPO,
PROTECTO
ENTERPRIZES- ■ '— •
BOX 550. BARRINGTON, ILLINOIS 60010
Phon» 312/382 5244 10 ord»r
BIG FOUR
NEW 128K —MEGA BYTE DUAL DISK DRIVE-80 COLUMN
COMPUTER SYSTEM SALE!
HOME • BUSINESS • WORD PROCESSING
LOOK AT ALL YOU GET FOR ONLY $ 895.
LIST PRICE
• B128 COMMODORE 128K 80 COLUMN COMPUTER $995 00
• 8050 DUAL DISK DRIVE (over 1 million bytes) 1795.00
• 4023 100 GPS - 80 COLUMN BIDIRECTIONAL PRINTER 499 00
• 12" HI RESOLUTION 80 COLUMN GREEN OR AMBER MONITOR 249 00
• BOX OF 10 LORAN LIFETIME GUARANTEED DISKS 49 95
• 1100 SHEETS FANFOLD PAPER 19 95
• ALL CABLES NEEDED FOR INTERFACING 102 05
TOTAL LIST PRICE $ 3717.95
Printer replacement options (replace the 4023 with the following at these sale prices)
LIST
SALE
* Olympia Executive Letter Quality Serial Printer
$699.00
$ 399.00
♦ Comstar Hi-Speed 160 CPS 15'/:" Serial-Business Printer
$779.00
$ 499.00
* Telecommunications Deluxe Modem Package
$ 199.00
$ 139.00
Plus You Can Order These Business Programs
At Sale Prices
LIST SALE
LIST
SALE
Professional 80 Column $M9 95 $99.00 Payroll
$149 95
S99 00
Word Processor Invet'^lory
\49 95
99 00
Professional Data Base 149 95 99.00 General Ledger
149 95
99 00
Accounts ReceiuaDle 149 95 99.00 Financial Spread Sheet
149 95
99 00
Accounts Payable 149 95 99.00 Program Generator
149 95
99 00
15 DAY FREE TRIAL We give you 15 days to try out this SUPER SYSTEM PACKAGE" If it ijoesnt meet your expec
tations. |ust send it back to us prepaid and we will refund your purcfnase price"
90 DAY IMMEDIATE REPLACEMENT WARRANTY If any of tf:e SUPER SYSTEM PACKAGE equipment or programs
fail due to faulty workmanship or material we will replace it IMMEDIATELY at no cfiargel'
Tdd $50.00 for shipping and handling!!
I $100.00 for Canada, Puerto Rico, Hawaii orders.
WE DO NOT EXPORT TO OTHER COUNTRIES.
j Enclose Cashiers Check, Money Order or Personal Check. Allow
I 14 days for delivery, 2 to 7 days for phone orders. 1 day express
j mail! Canada orders must be in U.S. dollars. We accept Visa and
IM
No. 74 • August 1984
CK|TCDpDI7pS IWE1.0VE0UI>CUS70ME><Sl
BOX 550, BAflRINQTON, ILLINOIS 60010
Phon* 312/M2-5244 to ord«r
MICRO
23
80 COLUMN PRINTER SALE— $149.00
COMSTAR T/F
Tractor
Friction
Printer
**
COMSTAR
15 Day Free Trial -180 Day Immediate Replacement Warranty
• Lowest Priced, Best Quality, Tractor-Friction Printers in the U.S.A.
- Fast 80-120-160 Characters Per Second • 40,46,66,80,96, 132 Characters Per Line Spacing
• Word Processing • Print Labels, Letters, Graphs and Tables • List Your Programs
• Print Out Data from Modem Services • "TheMost Important Accessory for Your Computer"
•STX-80 COLUMN
PRINTER— $149.00
Prints full 80 columns. Super silent
operation, 60 CPS, prints Hi-resolution
graphics and blocl< graphics, expanded
character set, exceptionally clear
characters, fantastic print quality, uses
inexpensive thermal paper! Best thermal
printer in the U.S.A.! (Centronics Parallel
Interface).
"DELUXE COMSTAR T/F
80 CPS PRINTER-$1 79.00
The COMSTAR T/F (Tractor Friction)
PRINTER is exceptionally versatile. It
prints 8%" X 11" standard size single
sheet stationary or continuous feed com-
puter paper. Bi-directional, impact dot
matrix, 80 CPS, 224 characters. (Cen-
tronics Parallel Interface).
Premium Quality— 120 CPS
COMSTAR T/F SUPER-10X
PRINTER-$289.00
COMSTAR T/F (Tractor Friction) SUPER-
10X PRINTER gives you all the features
of the COMSTAR T/F PRINTER plus a
10" carriage, 120 CPS, 9 x 9 dot matrix
\N\ih double strike capability for 18 x 18
dot matrix (near letter quality), high
resolution bit image (120 x 144 dot
matrix), underlining, bacl< spacing, left
and right margin settings, true \owei
decenders wtU super and subscripts,
prints standard, italic, blocl< graphics
and special characters, plus 2K of user
definable characters! The COMSTAR T/F
SUPER-10X PRINTER was Rated No. 1 by
"Popular Science Magazine." It gives you
print quality and features found on
printers costing twice as much!! (Cen-
tronics Parallel Interface) (Better than Ep-
son FX 80).
Premium Quality— 120 CPS
COMSTAR T/F SUPER-15%"
PRINTER— $379.00
COMSTAR T/F SUPER 15%" PRINTER
has all the features of the COMSTAR T/F
SUPER-10X PRINTER plus a 15'/i" car-
riage and more powerful electronics
components to handle large ledger
business forms! (Better than Epson FX
100).
Superior Quality
SUPER HIGH SPEED— 160 CPS
COMSTAR T/F 10"
PRINTER- $399.00
SUPER HIGH SPEED COMSTAR T/F
(Tractor Friction) PRINTER has all the
features of the COMSTAR SUPER-10X
PRINTER plus SUPER HIGH SPEED
PRINTING— 160 CPS, 100% duty cycle,
8K buffer, diverse character fonts,
special symbols and true decenders, ver-
tical and horizontal tabs. RED HOT
BUSINESS PRINTER at an unbelievable
low price!! (Serial or Centronics Parallel
Interface)
Superior Quality
SUPER HIGH SPEED— 160 CPS
COMSTAR T/F 15%"
PRINTER— $529.00
SUPER HIGH SPEED COMSTAR T/F
15%" PRINTER has all the features of the
SUPER HIGH SPEED COMSTAR T/F 10"
PRINTER plus a 15'A" carriage and more
powerful electronics to handle larger
ledger business forms! Exclusive bottom
paper feed!!
PARALLEL INTERFACES
For VIC- 20 and C0M-e4— $69.00
For Apple Computers— $79.00
NOTE: Other printer interfaces
available at computer stores!
Double
Immediate Replacement
Warranty
We have doubled the normal 90 day vt^ar-
ranty to 180 days. Therefore if your
printer fails vt^ithin "180 days" from the
date of purchase you simply send your
printer to us via United Parcel Service,
prepaid. We w\\\ IMMEDIATELY send you
a replacement printer at no charge,
prepaid. This warranty, once again,
proves that WE LOVE OUR
CUSTOMERS!
1
Add $17.50 for shipping, handling and insurance. WE DO NOT EXPORT j
TO OTHER COUNTRIES EXCEPT CANADA. ■
Enclose Cashiers Check, Money Order or Personal Check. Allow 14 days j
for delivery, 2 to 7 days for phone orders, 1 day express mail! Canada ■
I
I
SUPER-10" ABCDEI='C5IH Z a Kl-MIMORCaRSTU VM X V Z
ABCDEFGHIJKLnNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 1 23<ASS^7e<?0
orders must be in US
ship C.O.D
dollars. VISA — MASTER CARD ACCEPTED. We
CKITCDDDI^CC (we love our customersi
BOX 550, BARRINGTON, ILLINOIS 60010
Phon* 312/382-5244 lo order
O Olympia
EXECUTIVE LETTER QUALITY
"DAISY WHEEL PRINTERS"
Executive Letter Quality Printer
Executive Letter Quality Printer/Typewriter
World's Finest Computer Printer
List Price $699 SALE $399
• Daisywheel printer, bidirectional with special print
enhancements.
• Print speed up to 20 characters per second.
• 10, 12, and 15 characters per inch.
• 256 character print buffer.
• 14.4" forms width.
• Print line width: 115, 138, and 172 characters.
• Serial RS-232-C and parallel Centronics interface
ports built-in.
• Built-in bidirectional forms tractor.
• Operating status control panel.
World's Finest
"Combination" Printer/Typewriter
List Price $799 SALE $489
• Superb computer printer combmed with world's finest
electronic typewriter!
• Better than IBM selectric — used by world's largest
corporations!
• Two machines in one — just a flick of the switch!
• Superb letter quality correspondence — home, office,
word processing!
• Extra large carriage — allows 14-1/8" paper usage!
• Drop in cassette ribbon — express lift off correction or
eraser up to 46 characters!
• Precision daisy wheel printing — many type styles!
• Pitch selector —10,12,15 GPS, Automatic relocate key!
• Automatic margin control and setting! Key in buffer!
• Electronic reliability, built in diagnostic test!
• Centronics parallel interface built-in
15 Day Free Trial - 90 Day Immediate Replacement Warranty
Add $17.50 for shipping, handling and insurance. Illinois residents please
add 6% tax. Add $35.00 for CANADA, PUERTO RICO, HAWAII. ALASKA,
APA-FPO orders. Canadian orders must be in U.S. dollars.
WE DO NOT EXPORT TO OTHER COUNTRIES.
Enclose Cashiers Check, Money Order or Personal Check. Allow 14 days
delivery, 2 to 7 days for phone orders, 1 day express mail!
VISA - MASTERCARD - C.O.D.
No COD. to Canada, APOFPO
COM 64 — VlC-20 INTERFACE
APPLE INTERFACE
$59.00
$79.00
pMTpDpDI7pC (WELOVEOURCUSroUERSI
BOX 550, BARRINQTON, ILLINOrS 60010
Phon* 312/382-5244 to ordar
No. 74 ■ August 1984
MICRO
25
Commodore - 64
SCRIPT-64 EXECUTIVE WORD PROCESSOR
(80 Columns in Color)
40 or 80 columns in color or black and white; turns your computer into a Business
Machine!
Rated best by COMMODORE. This is the finest word processor available. Features in-
clude line and paragraph insertion/deletion, indentation, right and left justification,
titles, page numbering, characters per inch, etc. All features are easy to use and under-
stand. With tabs, etc. SCRIPT-64 even includes a 250 word dictionary/spelling checker to
make sure your spelling is correct. The dictionary is user customizable to any technical
words you may use. Furthermore, all paragraphs can be printed in writing and everyday
letters are a snap. To top things off, there is a 100 page manual and help screens to
make learning how to use SCRIPT-64 a snap. This word processor is so complete we
can't think of anything it doesn't have. When combined with the complete database you
have a powerful mailmerge and label program that lets you customize any mailing list
with personalized letters. List $99.95. Sale $59.00. *Coupon Price $49.00. (Disk only.)
SCRIPT-64 2G.0G0 WORD DICTIONARY
Allows you to check spelling on 20,000 most often mispelled words! List $29.95. Sale
$19.95. ^Coupon Price $12.50 (Disk only.)
SCRIPT-64 COMPLETE DATABASE
(Plus Mail Merge and Labels)
This powerful DATABASE is user friendly and makes any information easy to store and
retrieve. The user defines the fields and then can add, change, delete, and search for
any category wanted! Must be used with the SCRIPT-64 EXECUTIVE WORD PROC-
ESSOR. When combined with the Executive Word Processor you can search out any
category (zip codes, even hair color, etc.) and print super personalized letters! 600
names can be sorted and formulated on each disk in any order or category! Will handle
any size mailing list by changing or adding disks! List $69.00. Sale $39.00. *Coupon
Price $29.00.
• LOWEST PRICES • 15 DAY FREE TRIAL • 90 DAY FREE REPLACEMENT WARRANTY
• BEST SERVICE IN U.S.A. • ONE DAY EXPRESS MAIL • OVER 500 PROGRAMS • FREE CATALOGS
WE SHIP C.O.D. HONOR VISA AND MASTER CHARGE
ADD $3.00 SHIPPING FOR C.O.D. ADD $2.00 MORE
SPECIAL SERVICES:
One Day — Express Mail add $10.00
]
CMTCDpD|7EC IWE LOVE OURCUSrOMERSi
BOX 550, BARRINGTON, ILLINOIS 60010
Phone 312/382-5244 to ord«r
® SANYO MONITOR SALE!!
9" Data Monitor
80 Columns x 24 lines
Green text display
Easy to read - no eye strain
Up front brightness control
High resolution graphics
Quick start - no preheating
Regulated power supply
Attractive metal cabinet
UL and FCC approved
• 75 Day Free Trial - 90 Day Immediate Replacement Warranty
9" Screen - Green Text Display $ 69.00
12" Screen - Green Text Display (anti-reflective screen) $ 99.00
12" Screen- Amber Text Display (anti-reflective screen) $ 99.00
12" Screen-Super 1000 Line Amber Text Display $119.00
14" Screen - Color Monitor (High Resolution) $239.00
Display Monitors From Sanyo
With the need for computing power growing every day, Sanyo has
stepped in to meet the demand with a whole new line of low cost, high
quality data monitors. Designed for commercial and personal com-
puter use. All models come with an array of features, including up-
front brightness and contrast controls. The capacity 5x7 dot
characters as the input is 24 lines of characters with up to
80 characters per line.
Equally important, all are built with Sanyo's commitment
to technological excellence. In the world of Audio/Video, Sanyo is
synonymous with reliability and performance. And Sanyo quality is
reflected in our reputation. Unlike some suppliers, Sanyo designs,
manufactures and tests virtually all the parts that go into our products,
from cameras to stereos. That's an assurance not everybody can
give you!
®
CW/oa/ Video Products
of the Los Angeles 1984 Otymptcs
<m^
• LOWEST PRICES • 15 DAY FREE TRIAL • 90 DAY FREE REPLACEMENT WARRANTY
• BEST SERVICE IN U.S.A. • ONE DAY EXPRESS MAIL • OVER 500 PROGRAMS • FREE CATALOGS
I Add tlO.OO for shipping, handling and insurance. Illinois rasldanis I
I please add 8% tax. Add $20.00 (or CANADA. PUERTO RICO. HAWAII |
j orders. WE DO NOT EXPORT TO OTHER COUNTRIES. |
I Enclose Cashiers Check. Money Order or Personal Check. Allow 14 j
I days lor delivery, 2 to 7 days for phone orders, 1 day express mail! I
I Canada orders rriusl be in US dollars. Visa - MasterCard - COO •
(WE LOVE OUH CUSTOMERS)
ENTERPRIZES
BOX 550, BARRINGTON, ILLINOIS 60010
Phont 312/382-5244 to ordtr
Iji/atune
Graphic Print for C-64 •
Pan 2
by Michael J. Keryan
I i m i i m i i rar i nr
3E1E
DEE
=in i I
Create full-page graphic printouts interfacing with
major commercial software.
I i m i i n i i n i i R i im i n i i n[=
Last month we saw how to add a fast
machine language routine to dump a
graphic screen to most popular non-
Commodore printers. This month we
add another machine language program
and a BASIC program that can load
graphic files from a number of popular
graphic programs, display them, and
dump them to a printer.
Last time, a general purpose graphic
dump program was described
(GDUMPJ. This program will give
HiRes or MULTIcolor graphic dumps
in various dot patterns — the density
of the dot pattern is proportional to the
darkness of the actual colors used in
the picture. Sixteen different patterns
are used so that even two colors that
look identical on a black and white
monitor or TV can be distinguished on
the printout. The printouts are about
7x9 inches and take from two to
two and a half minutes, depending on
your printer speed. Printers supported
are NEC 8023, PROWRITER, C. ITOH
8510, EPSON MX-80, FX-80, GEMINI,
and any other printer that emulates
graphic modes of these printers.
Now we have a program that will
print graphics. But what are we going
to print? Well, it would be nice if we
could use this program to print all our
neat pictures, graphs, etc. that we
developed with those graphic aid and
drawing programs that we paid
anywhere from $20 to $75 for. You
remember, the ones that didn't come
with a screen dump program or the
ones that took three minutes to
produce a picture small enough to stick
in your wallet? To print these, we'll
first have to transform their graphs
to memory areas we can easily get
to. We'll need a machine language
program to do this because we'll want
to move between 8K and lOK of
memory. But first we need a BASIC
program that makes things a lot
simpler.
=i m 1
A small BASIC program (see Listing
1) ties everything together. The first
thing this program does is load the
machine language programs GDUMP
(from last time) and GMOVE (Listing
2). These were combined into one
program "GDUMP + MOVE". Then a
jump is made to line 2000 which
changes the screen colors and displays a
menu. You are given the choice of
dumping graphics made from SIMONS'
BASIC, ULTRABASIC-64, DOODLE,
KOALAPAINTER, or SLIDESHOW. A
sixth option allows SLIDESHOW
graphics to be inverted.
If the picture is stored on a disk
(options 2-6), you are instructed to put
in the disk containing the picture and
type in the name of the file. For
DOODLE files, include the DD as part
of the file name as listed on the
directory. For KOALA files, include the
PIC part, such as "PIC H CASTLE",
but don't worry about the initial
reverse field character that shows up
in the directory. All file names can
be shortened, but don't use the *
wildcard; for example "PIC H" will
work fine.
The picture is loaded into the
same memory areas that these other
programs use. Our BASIC program then
jumps to line 1050. The graphic screen
is reconfigured by a SYS to GMOVE.
The workings of GMOVE is described
later. Printer specific controls are
set up (lines 1050-1100), then the
keyboard is polled. If you hit P, you
will get a printout. Any other key will
reset the screen and end the program
with no printed output.
SIMONS' BASIC
SIMONS' BASIC is a new package of
BASIC extensions, distributed by
Commodore. It comes in a plug-in
cartridge form and reduces the size
of BASIC workspace by 8K bytes. With
SIMONS' BASIC, you get 114 more
BASIC commands in 12 general
categories. This is a super package and
is a steal at $20. A drawback is that it
uses the $CXXX area of RAM, making
most of your machine language
programs incompatible. However, this
package contains so much utility that
you may not need other ML programs.
With SIMONS' BASIC, you can
make pictures, graphs, etc. in HiRes or
MULTIcolor modes. You are given
quite a few graphic commands for
drawing lines, circles, blocks, adding
text, etc. It has a COPY command that
will dump the graphic screen to a
printer in Commodore 1525 format.
Although the copy command is
handy, it has a few undesirable
features. It is small (4x2 3/4 on my
printer) and slow (3 minutes).
SIMON'S BASIC allows color
redefinition, but only 3 colors can be
specified at any time. With COPY,
colors 1 and 2 come out as half-tone
(vertical lines), while color 3 comes out
solid black. Your highly colored
pictures may look great on the screen,
but the printouts may lack a little
contrast between colors.
SIMONS' BASIC places the 8K bit
map memory in hidden RAM, under
the KERNAL at $E000-$FFFF. The IK
screen memory is placed at $C000
(normally found at $0400). The routine
GDSIMN (see Listing 2] switches out
the ROM, allowing you to access the
8K bit map data, transfers the memory
to $2000-$3FFF, and then switches the
ROM back in. It also places $C0 into
the screen pointer. Since SIMONS'
BASIC contains no command to dump
a graphic screen to disk, you will have
to print the screen while it is displayed.
By running the program in Listing 1,
you can create a 7 line BASIC program
for SIMONS' BASIC. Append your
graphic program to this one with the
SIMONS' BASIC MERGE command.
Then when you want the graphic
screen dumped to the printer, just
include the line GOTO 1. This short
program uses only one variable, A.
Make sure you don't use A in the body
of your program
ULTRABASIC-64
ULTRABASIC-64 is a package of 50
extra BASIC commands, made by
Abacus Software. The graphic
28
MICRO
No. 74 • August 1984
commands are quite similar to those of
SIMONS' BASIC. A graphic screen
dump using the HARD command is
also similar: it is fairly slow, small, and
does not give accurate color shading
renditions. With ULTRABASIC-64
dumps, you get 3 different shade
densities for colors defined as 1, 2, and
3. But the darkness is a function of the
color number |1, 2, 3) which is not
related to the actual darkness of that
color.
With ULTRABASIC-64, you can
save a graphic screen to disk with the
DUMP command or by pressing
function key F2. This file can later be
read in, reconfigured, and printed with
all the attributes of GDUMP. GDULTR
in Listing 2 first switches out the
ROMS, moves the 8K bit map area of
memory located at $AOOO-$BFFF to
$2000-$3FFF, then re-enables the
ROMS. The program then relocates the
IK screen memory starting at $8400 to
$0400, and the IK color memory
starting at $8800 to $D800. The border
color is moved from $83E0 to $D020,
and the background color from $83E1
to $D021. The screen is then
configured for bit-mapped graphics and
$83D6 is transferred to $D016 to
enable either HiRes or MULTI modes.
DOODLE
DOODLE is a very extensive drawing
program, by Omni Unlimited.
Although somewhat difficult to learn
due to the many options and menus,
you can create quite outstanding
drawings with a joystick. Because
DOODLE uses the HiRes mode, you
can get lines that are only one dot wide;
most other color drawing packages
allow only two-dot resolution due to
the use of MULTI mode. In any 8x8
square of dots, you can display any two
colors: one for the dots and another for
the background. However, the colors in
any other 8x8 square block can be
completely different. Of course,
DOODLE handles all this for you; you
just draw the pictures.
DOODLE provides a printer setup
program for non-Commodore printers
and a graphic dump program which is
better than most other graphic
packages attempts. It allows two sizes
and is fast. The printer dumps have one
fault, however. All dots are printed as
black and all background is printed as
white — no matter what colors were
used for the dots and background.
Check out the Middle Earth demo that
is on the DOODLE disk. The white
clouds against the blue sky are printed
as black clouds on a white sky.
DOODLE contains a routine to save
a picture to disk. It creates a file with
DD as the first two characters of the
file name. With the programs provided
in Listings 1 and 2, you can read in the
file, reconfigure and display it, and
print it with GDUMP. GDDOOD in
Listing 2 moves the 8K bit map area
from $6000-$7FFF to $2000-$3FFF, and
the IK screen area from $5C00-$5FFF
to $0400-$07FF. Then the bit-mapped
graphic mode is enabled and the HiRes
mode is enabled, displaying the
picture.
KOALAPAINTER
KOALAPAINTER is a software package
that you get on disk when you purchase
a KOALA PAD for the Commodore 64.
With this program (by Audio
Light/Koala Technologies], it's
comprehensive single-page menu, and
the KOALA PAD, even a six year old
can quickly leam to make quite
attractive graphics. This program is
super user-friendly while being quite
powerful.
At this time, KOALA provides no
routine to dump your pictures to a
printer, but will probably provide one
in the future (for a price). KOALA does
provide a routine to save your pictures
to a disk file. This file can be used with
the programs here to get a printer
dump. In Listing 2, GDKOAL moves
the 8K bit map area located at
$6000-$7FFF to our common area of
$2000-$3FFF. The IK screen area
starting at $7F40 is moved to $0400,
and the IK color memory starting at
$8328 is moved to $D800. The
background color is moved from $8710
to $D021. Then the bit mapped screen
in turned on and the MULTIcolor mode
is enabled, displaying the KOALA-
produced picture.
SLIDESHOW
SLIDESHOW is a program that has
appeared on several TPUG (Toronto
Pet Users Group) disks. It uses a
machine language program called
HRSUPP to clear color memory and
display a high resolution bit-mapped
graphic picture loaded from disk into
$2000-$3FFF. Quite a few digitized
pictures are available in this format.
C64-FORTH/79
New and Improved
for the Commodore 64
C64-Forth/79'" for the Commodore 64- $99.95
• New and improved FORTH-79 implementation with
extensions.
• Extension package including lines, circles, scaling,
windowing, mixed high res-character graphics and sprite
graphics.
• Fully compatible floating point package including
arithmetic, relational, logical and transcendental functions.
• String extensions including LEFTS, RIGHTS, and MIDS.
• Full feature screen editor and macro assembler.
• Compatible with VIC peripherals including disks, data set,
modem, printer and cartridge.
• Expanded 167 page manual with examples and application
screens.
» "SAVE TURNKEY" normally allows application program
distribution without licensing or royalties.
(Commodore 64 is a trademark of Commodore)
TO ORDER
-Disk only.
-Check, money order, bank card, COD's add $1.65
-Add $4.00 postage and handling in USA and Canada
-Mass. orders add 5% sales tax
-Foreign orders add 20% shipping and handling
-Dealer inquiries welcome
PERFORMANCE MICRO PRODUCTS
770 Dedham Street
Canton, MA 02021
(617) 828-1209
^"X"
No. 74 ■ August 1984
MICRO
29
including a photo of Ronald Reagan.
SLIDESHOW uses the HiRes mode
using only two colors; some pictures
are shown in light on dark, others as
dark on a light background.
SLIDESHOW pictures can be
viewed and printed with the programs
provided here. GDSLID in Listing 2
first clears the screen memory (IK
block at $0400) by creating black dots
on a white background. Then the bit-
mapped mode is enabled as is the HiRes
mode, allowing the pictures to be
displayed.
PRINTER SET-UP
Before running Listing 1, first make
sure the printer setup matches your
printer and interface. Four constants
are incorporated in the program [lines
2120-2250). PT is the printer type: for
C. Itoh 8510, Prowriter, and NEC 8023,
and 1 for Epson MX80 with
GRAFTRAX or FX80 or compatible
printers like Gemini/Star. NP is the
repeat counter and is automatically set
up from PT. NT is the interface type:
for Tymac Connection and 1 for others.
SD is the secondary address required by
your interface for transparent operation
(use 6 for Connection, 5 for Cardco).
After these changes are made, save the
program to disk.
To save you the effort of typing in
these programs, they are being made
available as a MicroDisk. The
MicroDisk, number MD-4, contains all
programs in this series. In the last
installment, we will get into what you
have been waiting for — a method to
print your pictures in full color on your
existing printer.
Q:\^:''E:MMM:^-n ■■■:m}iy-
Listing 1
5577 EE 70 55
INC FR0M-(-2
SUPPORT PROGRAM FOR GDUMP
557A EE 73 55
INC TO+2
M.J.KERYAN 3-25-84
557D 88
557E D0 EE
DEY
BNE FROM
5530
ORG $5530
5580 60
RTS
5530 4C 3F 55
5581 A9 84 GD5
LDA #$84
;SET UP
GOSIMN JMP GDSIMN
5583 8D 70 55 GD6
STA FR0M-(-2
FOR SIMON'S BASIC SCREEN DUMP
5586 A9 04 GD7
LDA #$04
.
A TRADEMARK OF COMMODORE ELECTRONICS
5588 8D 73 55
STA T0-(-2
05533 4C 8F 55
GOULTR JMP GDULTR
558B A0 04 GD8
LDY #$04
;4 BLOCKS
FOR ULTRABASIC-64 SCREEN DUMP
558D D0 D7
BNE GD4
; BRANCH ALWAYS
A TRADEMARK OF ABACUS SOFTWARE
J
5536 4C Dl 55
GODOOD JMP GDDOOD
558F 20 4E 55 GDULTR JSR ROMOUT
;ROMS OUT
FOR ««DOODLE** SCREEN DUMP
5592 A9 A0
LDA #$A0
A TRADEMARK OF OMNI UNLIMITED
5594 20 5C 55
JSR GD2
5539 4C F6 55
GOKOAL JMP GDKOAL
5597 20 54 55
JSR ROMIN
;ROMS BACK IN
o
FOR KOAUPAINTER SCREEN DUMP
559A 20 81 55
JSR GD5
A TRADEMARK OF AUDIO LIGHT
559D A9 88
LDA #$88
553C 4C 38 56
GOSLID JMP GDSLID
559F 8D 70 55
STA FR0M-(-2
FOR SCREEN DUMP OF PICTURES IN
55A2 A9 D8
LDA #$D8
o
SLIDESHOW FORMAT (TPUG)
55A4 8D 73 55
55A7 20 8B 55
STA T0-(-2
JSR GD8
553F 20 AE 55
GDSIMN JSR ROMOUT ; SWITCH OUT ROMS
55AA AD E0 83
LDA $83E0
; BORDER COLOR
f^5542 20 5A 55
5545 20 54 55
JSR GDI ;MOVE MEMORY
55AD 8D 20 D0
STA $D020
JSR ROMIN ;ROMS BACK IN
55B0 AD El 83
LDA $83E1
;BACKGROUND
5548 A9 C0
LDA #$C0
55B3 8D 21 D0
STA $D021
554A 8D 09 50
STA $5009
55B6 20 C0 55
JSR BITON
; BIT-MAP ON
0554D 60
RTS
55B9 AD D6 83
LDA $83D6
55BC 8D 16 D0
STA $D016
; HIRES OR M-C
554E 78
ROMOUT SEI ; IGNORE INTER.
55BF 60
RTS
554F A9 34
LDA #$34 ;ROMS OUT
J
O5551 85 01
STA $01
55C0 AD 11 D0 BITON LDA $D011
5553 60
RTS
55C3 09 30
ORA #$30
1
55C5 8D 11 D0
STA $D011
;BIT MAP ON
q5554 A9 37
5556 85 01
ROMIN LDA #$37 JROMS BACK IN
55C8 AD 18 D0
LDA $D018
STA $01
55CB 09 08
ORA #$08
; LOCATED AT
5558 58
CLI ; RESTORE INTER.
55CD 8D 18 D0
STA $D018
; $2000
5559 60
555A A9 E0
RTS
55D0 60
RTS
'gDI LDA #$E0 ;SET UP
55D1 A9 60 GDDOOD LDA #$60
555c 8D 70 55
GD2 STA FR0M-(-2
55D3 20 5C 55
JSR GD2
;MOVE BIT-MAP
555F A9 20
GD3 LDA #$20
55D6 A9 5C
LDA #$5C
°5561 8D 73 55
STA T0-(-2
55D8 20 83 55
JSR GD6
jMOVE SCREEN
5564 A0 20
LDY #$20 ;32 BLOCKS
55DB 20 C0 55
JSR BITON
;BIT MAP ON
5566 A2 00
GD4 LDX #$00
55DE 20 E2 55
JSR MCOFF
jMULTI COLOR OFF
05568 8E 6F 55
STX FROM-i-l
55E1 60
RTS
556B 8E 72 55
STX TO+1
J
556E BD 00 E0
FROM LDA $E000,X ;MOVE DATA
55E2 AD 16 D0 MCOFF LDA $D016
;TURN OFF
5571 9D 00 20
TO STA $2000, X
55E5 29 CF
AND #$CF
; MULTI-COLOR
©5574 E8
INX
55E7 8D 16 D0
STA $D016
;MODE
5575 D0 F7
BNE FROM
55EA 60
RTS
30
MICRO
No. 74 - August 1984
ilBiiiiiiiiPiiii
?mmM&i0m"imsm!iSiWSi
55EB AD 16 D0
MCON LDA $D016
jTURN ON
1080 IF TY=2 OR TY=4 THEN MD=PEEK( 53270) :
55EE 29 DF
AND iC$DF
; MULTI-COLOR
MD=3-((MD AND 16)/l6): POKE 20494, MD
©
55F0 09 10
ORA #$10
;MODE
1090 IF TY=3 OR TY=5 THEN POKE 20494,3
55 F2 8D 16 D0
STA $D016
1100 IF TY=6 THEN POKE 20494,0
55F5 60
RTS
1110 GETK$:IF K$<> ""THEN 1110
f
1120 GETK$:IF K$="" THEN 1120
©
55F6 A9 60
GDKOAL LDA #$60
jMOVE BIT-MAP
1130 IF K$="P" THEN SYS 20480
55F8 20 5C 55
JSR GD2
1140 POKE 53265, ( PEEK ( 53265 )AND223)
55FB A2 00
LDX #$00
1150 POKE 53270, ( PEEK ( 53270 )AJJD207)
©
55FD 8E 72 55
STX TO+1
1160 POKE 53272,21
5600 A0 04
LDY i)l$04
1170 POKE 53280,6: POKE 53281,15: POKE 646,0
5602 8C 73 55
STY TO+2
1180 PRINT"{CLEAR}": END
5605 A9 40
LDA l)l$40
2000 POKE 53280,6: POKE 53281,15: POKE 646,0
©
5607 8D 6F 55
STA FROM+1
2010 PRINT "{CLEAR, D0WN2]WHICH TYPE OF PICTURE?"
560A A9 7F
LDA )H|7F
2020 PRINT
560C 8D 70 55
STA FROM+2
2030 PRINT" 1 SIMON'S BASIC"
560F 20 6E 55
JSR FROM
jMOVE SCRKKN
2040 PRINT" 2 ULTRABASIC-64"
©
5612 A2 00
LDX #$00
2050 PRINT" 3 DOODLE"
5614 8E 72 55
STX TCM-1
2060 PRINT" 4 KOALAPAINTER"
5617 A0 04
LDY #$04
2070 PRINT" 5 SLIDESHOW"
©
5619 A9 D8
LDA #$D8
2080 PRINT" 6 SLIDESHOW - INVERTED"
561B 8D 73 55
STA TO+2
2090 INPUT" ";TY
56 IE A9 28
LDA #$28
2100 IF TY< 1 OR TY> 6 THEN 2000
5620 8D 6F 55
STA FROM+1
2110 :
©
5623 A9 83
LDA #$83
2120 PT = 0: REM PRINTER TYPE
5625 8D 70 55
STA FROM+2
2130 : REM NEC/PROWRITER =
5628 20 6E 55
JSR FROM
;MOVE COLOR MEM
2140 : REM EPSON OR SIMILAR = 1
©
562B AD 10 87
LDA $8710
2150 :
562E 8D 21 D<S
STA ^021
jBACKGROUlffi
2160 NP = 3: IF PT=1 THEN NP = 2
5631 20 C0 55
JSR BITON
; BIT-MAP ON
2170 : REM REPEAT CC»E
5634 20 EB 55
JSR MCON
; MULTI-COLOR ON
2180 :
©
5637 60
RTS
2190 NT = 0: REM INTERFACE TYPE
f
2200 : REM CONNECTION =
5638 A0 04
GDSLID LDY #$04
2210 : REM OTHERS = 1
563A 8C 46 56
STY GSL+2
2220 :
©
563D A2 00
LDX #100
2230 SD = 6: REM SECONDARY ADDRESS
563F 8E 45 56
STX GSL+1
2240 : REM FOR TRANSPARENT
5642 A9 10
LDA #$10
{SCREEN COLORS
2250 :
©
5644 9D 00 04
GSL STA $0^400, X
;SET TO BLACK
2260 GT = 21808 + (TY-l)*3
5647 E8
INX
;AJJD WHITE
2270 IF GT> 21820 THEN GT=21820
5648 D0 FA
BNE GSL
2280 IF TY=1 THEN 3000
564a EE 46 56
INC GSL+2
2290 PRINT "{D0WN2}
©
5640 88
DEY
NOW PUT IN DISK WITH THE PICTURE FILE."
564E D0 F4
BNE GSL
2300 INPUT "{DOWN} NAME OF PICTURE";NM$
5650 20 C0 55
JSR BITON
; BIT-MAP ON
2310 PRINT"{DOWN}AFTER PICTURE LOADS, PRESS:"
5653 20 E2 55
JSR MCOFF
jMULTI COLOR OFF
2320 PRINT" P TO PRINT IT"
©
5656 60
RTS
2330 PRINT" E TO EXIT"
5657
END
2340 IF TY=4 THEN LOAD "?"+NM$+"*",8,l
2350 IF TY0 4 THEN LOAD NM$+"*",8,1
2900 :
3000 REM CREATE A SIMON'S BASIC PROGRAM
3010 Q$=CHR$(34)
©
3020 PRINT"{CLEAR}1 IF A=l THEN A=2:
©
LOAD"Q$" GDUMP+M0VE"Q$",8,1"
Listing 2
3030 PRINT"2 IF A=0 THEN A=l: GOTO 7
3040 PRINT "3 POKE 20491, "PT" :POKE 20492, "SD
O
1000 REM BASIC PROGRAM TO SUPPORT GDUMP
3050 PRINT"4 POKE 20493, "NT" :POKE 20487, "NP" :
X^
1010 REM M.
J.KERYAN 3-30-84
SYS 21808"
1020 :
3060 PRINT"5 A=PEEK ( 53270 ) : A=(A AND 16)/16"
1030 IF A=0 THEN A=l: LOAD" GDUMP+MOTO
',8,1
3070 PRINT "6 A=3-A: POKE 20494, A: SYS 20480: END"
O
1040 IF A=l THEN A=2: GOTO 2000
3080 PRINT '7 REM APPEND YOUR PROGRAM HERE"
1050 POKE 20491,PT: POKE 20492, SD
3090 PRINT "SAVE "Q$ "SIMON . GDUMP "Q$ " , 8 "
1060 POKE 2049:
,NT: POKE 20487, NP
3100 POKE 631,19: FOR A=632 TO 639: POKE A, 13: NEXT
*o
1070 SYS GT
3110 POKE 198,9: NEW
♦ NOTE: Program GDUMP from last
month (MICRO 73:22) should be
combined with above program GMOVE
o
into a new program
GDUMP+GMOVE
No. 74 - August 1984
AfllCRO
31
Uatctne
Alter Track & Sector
on
Vic-20 & C-64
by £div/n L. K/ng
:he
EIDE
ElEC
PHE
Rewrite any sector on a disk without any
loss of data.
ElEE
DEE
3HE
ElBE
Requirements: VIC-20, C64 or
any model PET with disk drive.
The ability to examine and modify
information on the disk is rather Uke
the plumber's flaring tool. One does
not need it often, but there is no such
thing as a substitute. As a high school
student, I was allotted one disk. After
about six months of work, including
developing a very fine adventure game
that was 'i9 blocks long, the disk
header got 'confused'. These was no
way to use the disk without the
header. The demo program DISPLAY
T&S showed that at least some of the
data was still good. Two things
happened: first, I NEWed the disk, lost
the data, and was never able to
successfully recreate it; second, I
developed this utility.
The program is an odd sort of
hybrid. It was written and debugged
on a PET 4032, revised on a VIC-20 so
that it definitely works on the
4040/2031/1540 disk systems and
should work on the 8050 as well, and
finally was tested on the C64. It is
straightforward and requires little,
if any, external explanation. The
BLOCK-READ/WRITE commands are
used quite frequently. After all of the
preliminary data is INPUTed from the
user, the requested sector is displayed
in a hex memory dump of the format:
Listing 1
1 REM umuummmmmumummmm*
2 REM m ALTER T&S FOR K^h^^ DISK AND U
3 REM M PET ^tli32 BY THE FUZZ M
K REM mummumummmmummm
5 REM
6 REM -H-H-SET C0NSTANTS++++
7 REM
10 T=0:REM CURRENT TRACK
11 S=0:REM CURRENT SECTOR
12 0=0: REM DRIVE
15 HX$="0123'i56789ABCDEF":REM HEXCON
16 REM -H-+ALL OTHERS ARE TEMPORARY+++
17 DIM P$(';2),R$(255)
18 OPEN 15, 8, 15: OPEN 2,8,2, "#0":GOSUB 10000
20 REM
21 REM +-H-+INPUT FROM USER++++
22 REM
25 PRINT"{CLEAR,RVS} ALTER T&S BY FUZZ "
26 PRINT: PRINT: PRINT
27 INPUT"DRIVE";D
28 INPUT " {D0WN3 } TRACK , SECTOR " ; T , S
29 IF T=0 OR T>35 THEN PRINT#15, "10": CLOSE 15:
CLOSE 2:PRINT"{CLEAR,RVS0FF,RVS}END":END
30 GOSUB 500: REM READ T&S INTO R$(I)
40 GOSUB 600: REM FOR P$'S
45 PRINT"{CLEAR}TRACK:"T" SECTOR: "S:
PRINT: PRINT: PRINT
46 PRINT "OUTPUT TO {RVS}S{RVS0FF}
CREEN OR {RVS}P{RVSOFF}RINTER"
47 GET QW$:IF QW$< > "S" AND QW$< > "P" THEN 47
48 IF QW$="P" THEN OPEN 3,4:DQ=4:G0T0 50
49 OPEN 3,3:DQ=3
50 FOR 1=1 TO K-l:PRINTi!'3,P$(l)
51 IF I<> INT(K/2) OR DQ=4 THEN 55
52 PRINT "{D0WN2}PRESS ANY KEY TO CONTINUE"
53 GET QW$:IF QW$="" THEN 53
55 NEXT I
©
O
O
o
o
32
MICRO
No. 74 ■ August 1984
01 23 3F -iB CC 02 0A AB
20 30 -^0 50 60 70 80 90
F8: 01 02 03 0-4 05 06 70 80
The index-looking things are just that:
"line numbers" your way of indicating
which line(s) you wish to change in
that sector. Naturally, the program can
change any block on the disk, fix
spelling in files or the directory, all
under your watchful eye and direct
control.
Disk Headers
Creation of a new disk header requires
knowledge of how data is stored on the
disk. I would suggest a quick review
of the section on advanced disk
programming in your manual before
making any modifications to the disk.
The first thing that must be done is to
make sure the disk has some of its
house keeping in order. To do this,
follow the program prompts to modify
these lines to read as follows:
00: 12 01 ^1 00 $$ $$ $$ $$
A0: $$
A0 32 ^1
Do not type in the dollar signs! They
are there to remind you that there will
be data in those locations that should
not be disturbed.
Next you must give the disk an ID
number. Select a two digit number.
Convert it into its hex ASCII value by
placing the digit '3' in front of each of
the digits. Enter these two values in the
third and fourth positions on line A0: at
locations A2 and A3. For example, if the
ID number choosen was 19, then the
two hex ASCII digits would be '31' and
'39', and the line would look like:
A0: $$ $$ 31 39 A0 32 ^1 $$
The disk must have a name. This is
accomplished by converting each of the
letters in the selected disk name into
their hex ASCII values and entering
them into locations 90 through Al. If
the name is less than eighteen |18)
characters long, then pad the remaining
locations with the shifted space
character, hex A0. For example, if the
disk were to be named GAMES, then
the lines modified so far would look
like:
56 IF 00=-; THEN PRINT#3 : CLOSE 3
60 PRINT "ARE THERE ANY MODIFICATIONS": INPUT M$
61 IF LEFT$(M$,1)="N" THEN 90
70 PRINT: PRINT "WHICH LINE";:INPUT L$
72 FOR 1=1 TO K:IF LEFT|(P|(I) ,2)=L| THEN Q=I:I=1000
73 NEXT
7ii IF I< K+1 THEN 60
80 PRINT"(RIGHT}"RIGHT|(P|(Q),LEN(P|(Q))-3);:
PRINT "[LEFT26}";
81 INPUT Q|:P|(Q)=LEFT|(P|(Q),3)+" "+Q|
82 GOTO 60
90 GOSUB 200: REM BREAK P|'S
95 GOSUB 100: REM UPDATE T&S
97 PRINT "{CLEAR}": GOTO 28
100 REM M H I I H iWRITE TO DISK m h h i i m
110 PRINT#15,"B-P"2;1
130 PRINT "(CLEAR}": FOR 1=1 TO 255:PRINT#2,R|(I); :
PRINT"[HOME}BYTE"I" OF 255":NEXT
U0 PRINT#15,"U2:"2;D;T;S:RETURN
200 REM i ti II lUPDATE R|( I )++++++
210 FOR 1=1 TO K-1:P|(I)=RIGHT|(P|(I),LEN(P|(I) )-/;):
NEXT:M=0
211 PRINT "{CLEAR}PLEASE HOLD UHILE I UPDATE THE DISK"
220 FOR 1=1 TO K-1
230 PRINT "{CLEAR}": FOR J=l TO LEN ( P| ( I ) ) STEP3
2-^0 X$=MID$(P$(I),J,2):GOSUB710
250 R|(M)=CHR|(X):M=M+1:PRINT"{H0ME}BYTE"M"="X|
260 NEXTJ:NEXTI
270 RETURN
500 REM -i-H-i-READ FROM DISK-t-f-H-
510 PRINT#15,"U1:"2;D;T;S
515 GOSUB10000
520 PRINT#15,"B-P:"2;1
521 PRINT#15, "M-R"CHR|(0)CHR|(17)
522 GET#15,R|(0)
530 FOR 1=1 TO 255:GET#2,R|(I):NEXT
540 PRINT#15,"B-P:"2;1
550 RETURN
600 REM ++++FORM PRINT STRINGS++++
605 PRINT" PLEASE HOLD UHILE I ARRANGE THE DATA"
610 K=1:F0R 1=0 TO 255
615 IF R|(I)="" THEN P=0:GOTO 630
620 P=ASC(R|(I))
630 X=P: GOSUB 800
6'+0 P$(K)=P|(K)+X|+" "
650 IF (I+l)/8=INT((l+l)/8) THEN K=K+1
660 NEXT
670 FOR 1=0 TO K-1
680 X=I*8:G0SUB 800
690 P$(I+1)=X|+": "+P|(I+1)
700 NEXT: RETURN
710 REM +11111 iHEX TO DEC+++++++++++
720 L$=LEFT$(X|,1):H|=RIGHT$(X|,1)
730 X=0:FOR B=0 TO 15
7'+0 IF L$<> "" THEN IF MID$(HX|,B+l,l)=L$
THEN X=X+16*B:L|=""
750 IF H|<> "" THEN IF MID$(HX$,B+l,l)=H$
THEN X=X+B:H|=""
760 NEXT B
770 RETURN
800 REM +++++DEC TO HEX+++++
810 H=INT(X/16):L=INT(X-H*16)
820 H=H+1:L=L+1
830 X$=MID$(HX$,H,1)+MID$(HX$,L,1)
8'+0 RETURN
10000 REM +++++ GET ERROR STATUS +++++
10010 INPUTi!*15,EN,EM$,ET,ES
10020 IF EN THEN PRINT#15, "I0":CLOSE15:
CL0SE2 : PRINT " {CLEAR , RIGHT9 , DOWN10 } "EM| : STOP
10030 RETURN
©
©
No. 74 -August 1984
MICRO
33
00: 12 01 Al 00 $$ $$ $$ $$
90: ^7 ^X to -^5 52 A0 A0 A0
GAMES
98: A0 A0 A0 A0 A0 A0 A0 A0
A0: A0 A0 31 39 A0 32 Al $$
Now comes the fun part —
outsmarting the computer! The only
thing left to do is to rewrite the BAM
(Block Availability Map), a special type
of map in the header in which one bit
equals one sector and a one in that bit
indicates that the sector should not be
overwritten. If there is enough data on
the disk being fixed to make using this
program better than NEWing the disk,
this would seem like an impossible, or
at least forbiddingly tedious, task. But,
as usual, there is an easier way. First,
exit the program by answering NO to
the question about modifications and
0,0 when asked for the track and sector.
This will cause the program to update
track 18, sector 0, which the is disk
header that we have been working on.
Once this is done, execute in
immediate mode a COLLECT
command (on the 1540 that is a
VALIDATE.) This forces the disk drive
to update its own BAM, freeing you
from the task. If the header was the
only thing damaged, this may be
enough to correct the problem.
[paaK ^ a^?a'"a^)
AM ESSENTIAL DISK fi MEMORY UTILITY
FOR THE COMMODORE 64^"" S DRIVE
EASY TO USE -HELP -KEYSTROKE COMMANDS
•Disk Track/Sector Editor
•Examine and modify disk sector data
•File Follower - memory for 150 sectors
•Fast 1541 disk compare and error check
•Display Memory and Disk Data
in Hex, ASCII or Screen Code
•Edit full page in hex or ASCII
•Disassemble memory and disk data
•Search memory for string
•Read disk drive memory
•Free sector map (BAM I
•Execute ML routines
•Printer screen dump (serial bus I
•Fast machine code! Compatible with
many Basic and monitor programs
ON DISK - CAN BE BACKED UP!!
QUANTUM SOFTWARE
P.O. BOX 12716, Dept. 64
LAKE PARK, FL 33403
NOW ONLY
$29
us Poit
NLY^
.95 I
To Order: Send check or money order, US dollars
Florida residents add 5*ta sales tax
COD add SE. Call 305-840-0249
Cammodors 64 is a rBflistsrsd tradamark of Commodora Elactronics Ltd.
Otherwise, it may be necessary to play
with a few of the directory tracks or
program/data sectors. I leave that to
the ambitious, experienced or
desparate! I would suggest that, as soon
as this is done or when the disk is
working again, that you back it up
IMMEDIATELY (as in right now and
without hesitation).
Program Description
The most tragically ironic thing that
can happen to a CBM floppy disk is the
loss of the header, particularly when
the information and directory remain
intact. The program is quite straight-
forward. Lines 10 to 15 list the
permanent, or relatively permanent,
variables such as current track, sector
and drive. Line 17 DIMensions the two
arrays: R$(I) holds the single byte
characters exactly as they are received
from the disk and P$(I) holds the line
index and 8 bytes for printing,
inputting and other tasks.
Lines 25 through 97 handle all input
from the user. Once the requested track
and sector are determined, subroutine
500 loads the 256 bytes from the
requested disk block into the buffer and
then into the R$(I) array. Subroutine
600 converts characters into their
ASCII hex form, adds the line index to
generate the output strings in array
P$(I). This array is dumped to the
printer or display in lines 45 to 56.
Lines 60 through 82 handle changes to
the block. Subroutine 200 converts the
updated P$|I) array back to the R$(I)
array. The routine at line 100 rewrites
the modified disk sector. Since these
last two routines are a little time
consuming, a few print statements are
included to break the boredom The
complete run requires about 3 to 5
minutes per sector. Exit from the
program occurs when an illegal track is
requested: less than 1; greater than 35.
WARNING: Under no circumstances
should you tamper with line 120. The
result could be a one-way trip to Disk-
Never-Never-Land .
Edwin is currently attending Florida
State University, majoring in
Computer Science. He was introduced
to computers at the Governor's Honors
Program in Georgia in 1981 and
followed up this start with a Computer
Math class in high school where he
learned BASIC and misc. PET stuff.
34
MICRO
No. 74 - August 1984
FEATURES OF THE NETWORKER "
©DIRECT CONNECT - Ng acous'ic coupiing needec
Two modular leiephone :acKs - one tor Dhone - ooe
Icr ine
(2) SINGLE CHIP MODEM for gieater te'iaS , 'v
^^ ON BOARD FIRMWARE corilains a :er,-ii nal crc-
v£^ gram
,/X) 0\ BOARD SERIAL 'NTERFACE - oo exua cards 'c
W buy Software se'ectatie cara lorrria! ~ or 8 dala
bits one i:r iwo s'oo o:ts ocd or even par'tv lun or
lal' duplex
(D 30C BAUD 50ttwa'e seiectabie Ici HO baud
©SWITCH CONTROL 'or answer or n note sits opx: ;o
keyboard
(j\ CARRIER DEFECT LED cives von ime sia-LS a: a
VJ g'ance
AU THIS PLUS
■ COMP-E'E witn NETWORKER SOFTWARE ro give
yOl,
■ 'ext trapDing ol eit re S'spiav :nto RAM oiem.orv
• D'Sk slarage capabiiitv lor an 'rapped *ext
• Oo screen menu and s;atus inoiciitors
■ FREE SUBSCRIPTION TG ^HE SOURCE Ti 30Db-
lar dia' op .nlcrmaiio-i system
• SOFTWARE COMPA'IBiLITV - wif ai ccmmor
Apple communicaticn scttware
• COMPA'TBlE wdb bcC' ontany ano 'one priones
• FCC APPROVED - Made r JSA
• ONE YEAR MANUFACluRER S WARRANTY
NETWORKER " INCLUDES A
COMPLETE PACKAGE
• Modular pnone 'ne rn'O
• Neiworkei sc'tware ca a d'S^ ready 'o nj
• Complete ■ns^'LCfoo n-aoua
NETMASTER
SOFTWARE
COMMUNICATIONS
For SI 79 we include will-: the NETWORKER the
NETMASTER Co^r/nuoications Software for ad-
vancecJ use's NETMASTER will lei vou transfer
games ar-"iputer qraphics, pror^jrarris sales re-
ccrts, OocL-'hients - -r- fact ar;y Apple liie of any size
- tc another coniouten c'l'ectlv from disk to rJisk
wirr^ont ernors. even rh'ougri no'sy pncne nnes
Complete Apple
Modem H 29
Single-Slot 300 Baud Direct-Connect Modem for
Apple II. 11 + , lie and Franklin computers
JOB ENTERPRISES INC
P Boi 269
Ayer MA 01432
For transfering information between computers-
NETMASTER s superb error checking and high
speed are an unoeatable combination With a NET-
MASTER on each end. ycu can transfer iritorma-
tion three to 'ive times faster than other commu-
nications packages 'ike Visiterm ~ or ASCII
Express Erro' free
Your best Ouy m modem historv The Networker/'
a plug-in single-slot direct connect modem Icr the
Apple 11 family ol computers. Send electronic mail
10 a friend or business associate use your school s
computer, access hundreds of computer bulletin
boards or thOLisands of data bases for up-to-the-
minute news, sports weather, airline, and stock m-
fcrmalion
There s absolutely nothing else to buy You eel
the modern board communication so'tware ano a
valuable subscption to Amencais cremier inio'-
mation service THE SOURCE For SI 29 Is a"
unbeatable value
This IS the modem Ihat does ■! all and does a 'c
ess Tne Apple Communications Ca'd is on bca'd
so no other .nterface is needed It s 300 car.c the
most commonly used modem speed And it comes
complete with NETWORKER Communications
Software on an Apple-companble diSK giving you
features no modem offers
Like the ab'iity to lock on-screen messages nfo
your Apple s RAM. and then move the ntormafio-
onto a disk for easy reference and review A termi-
nal program Ihat turns your computer mio a com-
rnunications command center, with on-screen ne-p
menus, continuous updates ol memory usage car-
rier presence, and communication status
Bui NETMASTER s not stuffy It w II lalk to Ihose
other communications packages, but they don i
work as 'ast and Ihey don t check errors iike NET-
MASTER, Ano NETMASTER dcesn t only woik
with the NETWORKER modem Even f you
already have another modem 'or you' Apple, NET-
MASTER IS an outstanding ^/alue m communi-
cations software so we sell NETMASTER by tse'l
(or S79 NETMASTER reguires 48k ol RAM one
disk drive ano the NETWORKER or anothe'
modem
WE EVEN GIVE YOU SOMEONE TO
TALK TO!
Your pu'Chase of the NETWORKER with or withoul
NETMASTER comes complete with a membersh'C
to THE SOURCE, with its normal registralion 'ee
fully waived, THE SOURCE will put a world of elec-
tronic information and communication services at
your fingertips - instantly Electronic mai' and com-
puter conferencing Current news and sports Valu-
able business and f'nancial information Travel ser-
vices, A wealth of mtormaficn about persona
computwag Even games All lully compatible witn
your eguipment, and ready to use at once
To Order
Call Toll Free
800-824-7888 Continental US ^_
800-824-7919 Alaska and Hawaii —
or anywhere in Ihe world
916-929-9091 VISA
Ask for operator #592
MAILORDERS
PLEASE WRITE NUMBER OF HEMS IN BOX
n NETWORKER S129 H NETMASTER S79
NETWORKER NETMASTER COMBO S179
NAME
ADDRESS _..
CITY .
ZIP
COO.
C D ORDERS ADD S3 UO
Ssntl OrneiTj aiiG M^ki Ciecrs P^yatHe io
Mass resicJents acJcJ 5°o sales tax
Total Enclosed
^ MASTERCARD r VISA ;" CHECK 1 C D
CARD NUMBER EXPIRES
SIGNATURE
JQB Enterprises Incorporated
P.O BOX 269 AYER MASSACHUSETTS 01432
All Prices Quoted are lor Prepaid Orders — Prices Subiect to Ctiange Witfidut Nonce
iCredit CarG orders must De signedl
.^e<ztcne
The UCSD p-System:
De Facto Standard
68000 Operating System
by Psi\i\ Lamar & Richard Finder
An explanation of the p-System and a comparison
of six 68000-based computer systems.
It may be a result of reading an over-
abundance of IBM PC ads that makes
people, without knowledge of micro-
processor architecture or assembly
language, blatantly predict that MS-
DOS on the eight bit 8088 chip will
become the measure by which all
operating systems and microcomputers
will be judged during the coming
decade. That view is simply wrong and
such comments (especially by people
who should know better] may be the
result of an understandable impatience
with the performance of slow, memory
limited, eight bit microcomputers —
but to declare that MS-DOS and the
80XXX is going to be the de facto
industry standard is short-sighted at
best and misleading at worst.
Ironically, the IBM PC fits the slow 8
bit category. There are other operating
systems and microprocessors out there,
more powerful than MS-DOS and the
8088. One such is the p-System
running on the 68000.
The p-System is a large, hierarchical
menu driven portable operating system
that is available on many different mini
and microcomputers. There is no need
to remember cryptic commands as in
most other operating systems. All
commands are shown in English, on a
menu line, at the top of the screen.
A group of students at the
University of California at San Diego
began writing the p-System under the
direction of Dr. Kenneth L. Bowles in
1974. A minicomputer with a hard disk
was used as a "development system,"
a procedure whose significance will
become apparent later.
Dr. Bowles originally called it "the
UCSD PASCAL SYSTEM," which was
a tactical error; not everybody likes the
PASCAL language so some people were
"put off" by this aspect of the original
operating system. The present
P-System has nothing to do with any
specific High Level Language (HLLJ,
many HLLs other than PASCAL run
under the p-System including BASIC. It
is now a stand alone operating system.
The p-System was written in PASCAL
and then compiled to P-Code. To give
you an idea of the significance of this
statement, I will try to explain a few
facts about compilers and interpreters.
(A compiler is a utility program that
36
MICRO
No. 74 - August 1984
converts HLL programs to native
machine codes in one continuous
operation, before any attempt is made
to run the HLL program. j
P-Code is a compact intermediate
code that is interpreted by a P-Code
interpreter program. HLL programs
written with interpreters run much
slower than the same programs written
with a compiler because this con-
version has to be done while the HLL
program is running. Compilers do it
only once; thereafter, only the native
machine code is run. Here, the
interpreter is converting a partially
compiled, intermediate P-Code instead
of HLL source code. This scheme
results in program code that is compact
and that executes faster than a pure
interpreter, but not as fast as a pure
compiler.
When implementing the p-System,
a P-Code interpreter program is written
for each different type of micro-
processor, it being quicker and cheaper
to write a P-Code interpreter than it is
to write a complete microprocessor
specific compiler. This allowed the
p-System to be quickly transported to
new microprocessors as they appear.
That was important ten years ago.
However, we can expect that fewer
entirely new, general purpose
microprocessors will be introduced in
the foreseeable future.
General purpose microprocessors
are becoming so complex and require so
many years of hardware and software
development that it is highly unlikely
any entirely new designs will make up
for the software head start that the
68000 and its 32 bit derivative, the
68020, presently enjoy.
The use of this P-Code interpreter
would later be rationalized by
purveyors of the p-System who
emphasized the alleged portability of
programs in P-Code form. (Portability
refers to the ease of moving a program
written on one type of computer over to
another and making it run.| The truth
is, there is nothing more portable than
source code in a reasonably
standardized (HLL|. ("Source" is what
you type into the computer when you
sit down and write a program, "Line 10
FOR X = 1 TO 99: NEXT X " etc.)
Source code written for a micro in a
given HLL can usually be transported
over to a new compiler or interpreter in
ASCII form. An editor can then be used
to search and replace any differences in
syntax or I/O features. There is no
speed penalty paid for this kind of
portability — but software authors
worry about the ease with which
source codes can be plagiarized.
Authors would rather sell programs in
P-Code form which is much harder to
decipher and plagiarize.
When the UCSD p-System was
written, 32K of RAM was typical for
a minicomputer. To avoid problems
with such limited memory, program
modules were designed to be loaded
into the small RAM address space from
a fast (expensive) hard disk as needed, a
process called "module swapping" or
"virtual memory." In this way a large
and powerful operating system could be
used in a computer with as little as
64K of RAM. Large application
programs could also be written in
modular fashion by committees of
programmers. It is in the nature of the
UCSD p-System to allow such modular
programs (as well as to link HLLs, such
as BASIC, to assembly language). Even
individual application programmers
prefer to write large business programs
in small manageable modules.
On the other hand, operating
system program modules called from a
hard or floppy disk into a small address
space are at a decided speed
disadvantage; the procedure is slower
than having all the operating system
code in RAM at the same time.
Therefore, the way to speed up this
operating system is to load all those
old software modules into an area of
RAM called a "RAM disk" or "disk
emulator." Fortunately, the 68000 has
high-speed machine-language block
move instructions to swap modules out
of RAM instead of mechanical disk.
The UCSD P-System comes alive when
it operates entirely in RAM on a fast
68000 and is far superior to any other
popular operating system presently
available on a micro. It is a real eye
opener to have an 80K text file, a
powerful program editor and a compiler
or assembler in RAM, all at the same
time. The age old cycle of compiling
your program, finding the errors,
reloading the editor, reloading the text
file, correcting the error, saving the
corrected text file, reloading the
compiler and recompiling the program
is almost instantaneously achieved by
pressing less than half a dozen keys.
The p-System was not always this
easily used. The early acceptance of the
very large (over lOOK) p-System was
retarded when Apple Computer tried to
use it on an 8 bit 48K Apple II with only
143K on the floppy disk. To get just
a directory or catalog on the video
screen, the p-System filer program
module had to be loaded into RAM
from a floppy disk, a very slow and
frustrating experience.
Ironically, the p-System worked
much better on the Apple III, which
had large bank switched RAM space
and a hard disk. Not enough Apple Ills
were sold to improve the reputation
of the p-System. We believe that the
p-System on the Apple III was used by
Apple Computer to write (in PASCAL]
the operating system for the Lisa. Mike
Markula, past president of Apple
Computer, mentioned that he thought
that the Apple III running Apple's
version of the p-System was the best
software development system on the
market. It probably was at the time,
but not for writing operating systems in
a HLL. Writing the Lisa's operating
system in a high level language was
a dumb idea. This is one possible
explanation for the original Lisa's
slowness.
Large numbers of p-Systems were
sold for the Apple II, thereby giving
the P-System a reputation as being
cumbersome and slow on micros in
general. Its implementation in 512K
RAM disk on the eight mhz or faster
68000 is helping change this image.
The p-System needs over lOOK of
memory because it is a very large
and comprehensive operating system
with a complete complement of
programming tools including:
A) A program editor with search-and-
replace, block move, forward and
backward scrolling and save functions,
which is fast and easy to use. For
example, in the event of a syntax
error during program compilation,
the p-System will automatically and
quickly, in three or four seconds, reload
the source text file from RAM disk and
return the cursor to the error on the
screen with one or two keystrokes.
This is handy for writing compiled
programs by trial-and-error. (Don't
laugh, it works). The p-System editor
is far better than ED on CP/M 68K
(which, admittedly, isn't saying
No. 74 - August 1984
MICRO
37
much). It is a real eye opener to have a
lOOK text file in RAM and be able to
jump from the beginning to the end in
only three seconds (no mistake — 3
seconds !!!!!) . Try that on your Apple II .
At one time we did a lot of 6502
assembly language programming on the
Apple II, and we were not satisfied with
the speed or the memory capacity. We
investigated ways to get all those 6502
assembly language text files out of the
Apple II into the Sage II in p-System
editor text file format, and finally
discovered a way to upload Apple II
assembly language text files to the
P-System editor. We were then able
to cross assemble them after a few
changes with the editor. (An
unexpected bonus, most welcome.)
BASIC and PASCAL text files were also
uploaded. The secret to doing this is to
use the Apple II serial printer interface
and a utility on the p-System called
"TEXTIN". The P-System program
editor's replace function is easily used
to change 6502 assembly language
pseudo-ops and Applesoft BASIC
commands to conform to p-System
language requirements.
B) A general purpose 68000 macro
assembler (and cross-macro assembler)
which assembles code for almost
any microprocessor. Each set of
mnemonics is loaded separately.
C) A linker to link assembly language
modules, as well as high level language
modules including BASIC, to other
high level language modules as well as
to themselves. You can even link a
PASCAL procedure to a BASIC program
and use it as a subroutine.
D) A very fast, comprehensive and
flexible disk operating system.
El Compilers for BASIC, FORTRAN,
PASCAL and MODULA II, among
other HLLs. These compilers compile
to P-Code, which can then be partially
compiled to 68000 native code using
the p-System' s Native Code Generator.
(Unfortunately at the present time, this
Native Code Generator does not
compile all P-Code to native code, only
selected routines. The P-Code
interpreter program is still needed in
RAM to handle the remaining
routines). A further increase in speed
could be achieved by rewriting this
Native Code Generator to compile all
P-Code to native code. The entire
p-System could then be compiled to
native 68000 code.
UNIX operating systems are getting
a lot of attention in the computer
press lately. UNIX has several desirable
features as does CP/M-68K. The
p-System, however, has much more
application software to run on the
68000 than CP/M-68K or any UNIX-
like operating system (a reason in itself
why the p-System is becoming the de
facto standard operating system on the
68000). To my knowledge, there are
less than a dozen application programs
for CP/M-68K or UNIX. At last count
over 250 packages were available for
the p-System. Most of this application
software for the p-System was first
written for Apple lis with the PASCAL
language card and minicomputers
running the UCSD p-System. There are
several of each, very good
wordprocessors, data base and
spreadsheet programs. As the use of
low cost 68000 computers that use the
UCSD p-System grows, the body of
copyable software for the p-System
should also increase. A 248 page book
that lists all the software is available
from Softech Microsystems, San
Diego, CA., for six dollars.
Although the p-System was written
in PASCAL, compiled to P-Code, then
interpreted and module-swapped, it
runs faster on a 8 MHZ 68000 micro,
using a RAM disk, than any UNIX or
UNIX-like operating system that we
know of. Not only is UNIX a highly
modular operating system, but it has
the greater disadvantage of having been
written on an older, more memory
limited, minicomputer than that used
to write the p-System. Most — if not
all — UNIX-like systems weie
written in 'C and compiled to
assembly language, then assembled to
native machine code (which is in the
nature of writing with 'C').
'C based operating systems should
be faster than systems written with a
pseudo compiler which uses a P-Code
interpreter; therefore, UNIX should be
faster than the p-System — but it
isn't. One possible reason for this is the
fact that UNIX program modules are
stored on hard disk in fragmented
blocks and swapped in from hard disk
to small areas of RAM (virtual
memory). Thus the additional
unnecessary complexity and number of
modules in UNIX make UNIX slower.
Maybe it will come alive when 2
megabyte RAM disks are common.
UNIX is also a multi-user operating
system when what is really needed is a
one CPU per user, net-worked
operating system. (Single CPU, multi-
user systems, went out with high
priced, discrete chip central processing
units such as found in mainframes and
minicomputers. Microcomputers (less
disk drives) now cost little more than
dumb terminals used with the old
multi-user CPUs.) These are some of
the reasons that the UNIX running,
multi-user. Fortune 500 and the Radio
Shack Model 16, 68000 micros are
slow, compared to a single-user 68000
running the p-System.
The UCSD p-System in RAM disk
on a 68000 is usefully fast; UNIX, at
this time, is not. Yet, the p-System's
performance could be improved even
over its present capabilities if it were
rewritten to take advantage of the
68000's large (16 megabyte) linear
address space. Rewriting the p-System
would preclude having to swap
modules from RAM disk and thereby
make it more efficient.
Nevertheless, the p-System is
becoming the de facto standard, 68000
personal computer, operating system,
something the 68000 community
needs. There are already a surprising
number of low-cost 68000
microcomputers running the UCSD
P-System. The following
microcomputers deserve serious
consideration, described in order of
usefulness-per-dollar, according to our
own personal preferences. While our
tastes may not be the same as
everyone's, it would be nice to think
that at least we represent a reliable
cross-section of knowledgeable micro
users:
Sage II
($3200) Sage Computer
Upon reading an ad in "Byte" for the
Sage, we contacted Sage Computer for
dealer information. We were pleasantly
surprised when a knowledgeable
salesman appeared and demonstrated
the machine, which initially impressed
us because it came with p-System,
wordprocessing, spreadsheet, PASCAL
and a 68000 macro assembler, along
with an assortment of other software.
When we saw the extensive
38
MICRO
No. 74 - August 1984
documentation, the schematic, the
memory map, the powerful system
monitor in 16K byte EPROM, and the
monitor source listing — in other
words, a completely open
system — we were sold.
The experience was like that of a
few years before, when we were first
introduced to the Apple H, except that
with the Sage we were given an
extensive assortment of software and a
built in printer interface just to start up
our acquaintance. In short, we bought a
Sage and have been pleased with this
supermicro to this day; it has proven its
reliability and speed.
Floppy disk access and load times
(20K per sec.) execute on the Sage
about ten times faster than on the
Apple II disk operating system (DOS)
and BASIC programs run four times
faster than on IBM's Personal
Computer. It is as fast to program in
high level compiler languages as using
interpreters on 8-bit machines. Our
assembly language programming
productivity doubled with the Sage.
Word processing spelling checkers, too
slow previously, are viably fast.
An unexpanded, 25 6K Sage II costs
approximately $2600 (discounted). You
can plug in your own 64K bit dynamic
RAM chips for 5I2K bytes and your
own second Mitsubishi floppy disk
drive; sockets, cables and connectors
are provided with the unexpanded
machine. Industry standard, one
hundred and fifty nanosecond, 64K bit
RAM chips cost about six dollars at the
present, and 36 chips make up 256K of
parity RAM memory. A Mitsubishi
floppy is presently about $350.
The Sage n boasts 24 bit address, 16
bit data bus, expansion connectors. It
comes with a built-in Centronics
parallel printer port, an IEEE-488 port
and two RS-232 serial ports, one of
which is used with the terminal, the
other already set up for a modem. The
standard drive uses five-inch double-
density double-sided floppies with
640K on each disk. Very expensive
options include hard disk up to forty
megabytes and a six-user system with 1
megabyte RAM. Unfortunately the
clock is not battery backed up.
Several other operating systems will
run on the Sage, including CP/M-68K,
Mirage, PDOS, BOS/5 and Idris (a
Unix-like operating system).
Languages that run under the standard
and optional operating systems are
several versions of Fortrans, BASIC,
ADA, Forth, Cobol, Microcobol, APL,
Modula n and several 'C's. The Sage
requires a separate RS232 terminal.
Pinnacle
($3895). Pinnacle Systems
The Pinnacle comes with just the
p-System run-time package. The rest of
the p-System is optional. The Pinnacle
is equipped with two double sided,
quad density, 800K half height floppy
drives. 5I2K byte parity RAM is
standard. RAM expansion to one
megabyte costs $1295. Pinnacle is
extremely cost effective particularly in
the 10 MEG hard disk version at only
$5995.
[Editoi's Note: The authors included two
patagtaphs questioning Pinnacle's claim to
run at 12 Mhz. We contacted Pinnacle and
they stated that " ... the Pinnacle runs at 12
Mhz and has done so since June of 1983.
This is possible by using piequalified
selected parts, "j
The Pinnacle has no less than seven
serial ports, one parallel printer port, an
Omninet networking bus and a Sasi
hard disk interface in the basic
machine, as well as a battery-backed-
up clock and calendar.
The video display and keyboard
aren't built-in on the Pinnacle, unlike
the Apple II; a separate RS232 serial
terminal is required. However, not
having a built-in display and keyboard
can be advantageous, because the buyer
only pays for what he needs. Separate
19.2K baud serial terminals are also
faster than most built-in HiRes bit-
mapped displays (another reason the
68000 bit-mapped Apple Lisa is so
slow?]. This is due to the dedicated
CPU in all terminals (multi-processing
if you will) that has nothing else to do
but update the screen while bit mapped
displays are usually updated by the
main CPU. An RGB color terminal
costs about the same as an RGB board
and color monitor for the Apple II or the
IBM-PC, and this way the buyer can
choose according to preference.
Something not to overlook is that most
microcomputers can be used as
terminals.
The question being asked these days
is, "Will the company be here next
year?" Pinnacle Systems is part of a
larger company that specializes in
manufacturing complete computer
boards. The excellent design of the four
layer Pinnacle processor board is
testimony to their expertize in this
area.
Dimension 68000
(Under $4000) Micro Craft Corporation
This machine reputedly took 16
months to engineer. Its 68000 chip runs
at 7.2 Mhz and optionally runs the
p-System. Idris, Mirage, Unix 5, SI and
Concurrent DOS 4.0 will be available
soon. CP/M-68K is standard. The
amazing attribute of the Dimension is
that it will run almost any other
company's or microprocessor's
software. Micro Craft has engineered
plug-in CPU cards that not only run the
software of other popular machines,
but automatically reconfigure the disk
drive format and video display to
imitate the hardware configuration of
the simulated machine. In other words,
when imitating an Apple II, the disk
drives have I43K and the display has 40
characters across, upper case only.
The display can handle up to 100
characters across and up to 48 lines.
There is a color graphics mode, 160 X
480 pixels in 16 colors and a black and
white graphics mode of 640 X 480
pixels. 512K of RAM can reside on the
main board. The Dimension comes
with 256K of RAM. Chips can be
plugged in to increase memory up to
512K. A six-slo t intj inal expansion but
is provided! 375-^SegaBytes~(J) of RAM
cajKDe plugged into these^ expansion
connectors, using 64K bit dynamic
RAM chips on 5I2K byte plu*g-in cards
costing $1295 each. When p,56K bit
dynamic $37 RAM chips becgme lower
in cost (next month), 12.5/hiegabytes
in thVjjox are possible,^though the
power supplyjnight-hSve to be changed
to install 12.5 megabytes of RAM. An
optional expansion interface will allow
another 4 megabyte of directly
addressable RAM for a total of 16MB.
To put 16 megabytes of RAM in
perspective, the largest and most
expensive supermini that the Digital
Equipment Corporation manufactures
is the VAX 11/782, which costs about
twice as much as a VAX 11/ 780 and the
maximum amount of memory it can
address is 8 megabytes (Mini-Micro
Systems magazine.)
No. 74 - August 1984
MICRO
39
Extra-cost half-height five inch
double-sided 800K byte floppies are
available. The standard machine comes
with two 5-1/4 inch, 400K byte
floppies; serial, parallel and game
controller interfaces. A 50 megabyte
hard disk and controller costs $4995.
Hewlett Packard 9816A
($3995) Hewlett-Packard
The HP 9816A is a 68000 personal
computer with a too small, nine inch
CRT having a 400 X 300 pixels graphic
capability. The indispensable disk
drives are a lot extra. The HP 9816A
uses the 270K Sony three-and-a-half
inch floppy disk drives at only $900
each, but the hard-shell media for this
drive are presently hard to find and
expensive. The use of these drives and
media on the Apple Macintosh will
probably change this. Dual 540K, five
inch drives cost $2230. The same
Tandon drives bought "off the shelf"
from an electronics distributor cost
$250 each.
The HP 9816A runs the UCSD
p-System version 2.1 [everybody else
uses version 4.13) at an extra $1515.
There are 128K RAM, a well thought
out RS232 and HP-IB (IEEE 488)
interfaces built in. Additional RAM
cost about $1100.00 for 256K, while on
the Sage or the Dimension 25 6K RAM
would cost $300 to $650. There are
various other well engineered,
expensive options on the HP 9816A
such as plotters and graphics tablets.
Apparently, HP means High Price.
Corvus Concept
($3995) Corvus Systems
The UCSD p-System runs on the
Corvus Concept as a $695 option. The
CPU is an 8 mhz 68000. It has a large
(15 inch) crt display, 132 columns by
66 lines and 720 X 560 HiRes graphics.
The display is black and white only.
The bit-mapped design makes the
display update slower than a 19.2K
baud terminal. A large speed
improvement could be made by Corvus
if they put a dedicated micro in the
display with the sole purpose of
updating the display.
Believe it or not, the Corvus
Concept has a 50 pin Apple II
expansion bus! There are two built-in
RS232 serial interfaces and an Omninet
interface. The Corvus also has a
battery-backed-up clock and calendar
and 512K of RAM in the box. From a
marketing viewpoint, a weakness of
the Concept is that it doesn't come
with any floppy disk drives. Single
750K five inch floppies are a lot extra
($750). A further handicap is a rather
slow access time (1 megabit per second)
Omninet, networked hard disk. A hard
disk with an eight bit parallel interface
is also available that should be
somewhat faster.
However, the Corvus Concept is
worth considering if the system must
support more than about four users,
because it can utilize a network. Multi-
using eventually boggs down any single
CPU, even the 68000. By comparison.
Digital Equipment Corporation offers
the VAX 11/780 with 96 users. Can
you imagine 96 users, all trying to
compile different programs at the same
time, on one CPU no faster than a fifty
dollar, 12 mhz 68000 microprocessor?
(Maybe Digital doesn't think all 96
users are going to be on-line at the same
time.) Multi-user, single CPU time-
sharing systems are simply obsolete.
Networked microprocessor CPUs are
the only answer.
Saybrook
($995) Analytical Engines
This is an add-on 68000 computer for
the Apple II. It has an 8 mhz or optional
12.5 mhz CPU and 128K of RAM on-
board, expandable to 512K with 256K
bit chips. The Apple II quickly
communicates with the 68000
computer by means of DMA [direct
memory access). The weakness of this
approach is the Apple's slow disk
operating system and the limited
storage capacity 143K Apple disk
drives. On the other hand, program
execution and video screen updates are
very fast, particularly for HiRes
animated graphics. (The Apple n has a
rather unique and very fast screen
update scheme. In effect it is a dual
processor. The first is the main 6502
CPU. The second, very simple
processor, made from discrete TTL
chips, has nothing else to do but refresh
the screen and the dynamic memory.)
Analytic Engines claims 10 to 30 times
the speed of the Apple II with the 68000
running programs out of RAM
dedicated to the 68000.
The computer comes with the
p-System and a choice of one of the
following languages: UCSD PASCAL,
FORTRAN, BASIC compilers or an
Applesoft-compatible BASIC
interpreter. The Saybrook has a
24-hour clock (but it's not certain that
this clock is backed up by a battery).
These are the presently available
low-cost 68000 microcomputers
running the UCSD p-Systems. In the
near future other 68000 computer
manufacturers will probably hitch a
ride on the p-System bandwagon, the
mouse and Apple's Macintosh to the
contrary. The Apple Lisa 11 would be a
fine candidate as would the Radio
Shack Model 16 and the Fortune.
You have to try the p-System on a
fast 68000 machine with RAM disk to
understand the difference between the
various other operating systems and
the very real advantages offered by the
p-System and a fast and powerful
68000. Any of the above
microcomputers (where available) are
worth a trip to the computer store.
Manufacturer's References
Analytical Engines
3415 Grey stone, #305
Austin, TX 78731
512/346-8430
Corvus Systems
2100 Corvus Drive
San Jose, CA 95124
408/559-7000
Hewlett-Packard
19447 Pruneridge Avenue
Cupertino, CA 95014
Micro Craft Corporation
4747 Irving Blvd, Suite 241
Dallas, TX 75247
214/630-2562
Pinnacle Systems
10410 Markison Road
Dallas, TX 75238
214/340-4941
Sage Computer
4905 Energy Way
Reno, NV 89502
702/322-6868
40
MICRO
No. 74 - August 1984
Uatc(nc
Atari/Epson
Custom Characters
SHE
SHE
DBE
DEE
Transfer almost unlimited customized alphabets
to paper ■ accurately.
3E1E
EIHE
EIHE
Requirements: Atari 400/600/800/
1200, 850 Interface, Epson MX-80 with
Graftrax + , or MX-80 FT or MX-100, or
FX-80
When it comes to dealing with text,
the Atari computers have a marvelous
flexibility. Naturally, they can display
the usual upper and lower case,
numbers and punctuation. Besides
that, they also have inverses of all the
standard characters, plus lines, card
suits and a host of other graphics
characters. If you're not satisfied with
this selection, you can make your own
custom characters which has led to
programs using gothic, script and other
interesting fonts. You can generate
your own fonts with one of the many
character-editing programs that have
been published. All these can easily be
displayed on the screen, but
transferring them to paper is not
normally possible.
Why? There are a number of
reasons. The main one is that printers
are not designed for any one particular
computer. Only alphanumerics and
punctuation symbols are in the
standard ASCII table. The maximum
possible number of characters is 256
(each character stored uses one byte; a
byte can be in the range of 0-255,
hence, 256 possibilities). These
standard characters fill up less than half
of the available room, so Atari decided
to pack the rest with inverse and
graphics characters. Radio Shack,
instead, throws in a combinations of
block characters. Commodore has
inverse characters and different
graphics characters. The point here is
that apart from normal characters, no
two computers have the same set of
'extra' characters. As such, a printer
manufacturer catering only to one
computer would have a limited
audience. Epson has a viable solution;
they have their own characters, an
italic set and a few graphics characters.
The important fact is that the Epson
printers have full graphics abilities. We
can take advantage of this to generate
Atari's own special and custom
characters. All you need is the
appropriate software. I've included
listings of two somewhat similar
programs; one useful and one frivolous.
Any-Text File Lister
The program shown in Listing 1 lists
files to an Epson printer. At first this
may not sound amazingly useful. I
mean, from Basic, this is merely a
matter of issuing a LIST "P:"
command. From the DOS utilities
menu you can copy a text file to P:. but
what makes this program useful is that
its listing is accurate: it includes all the
graphics and inverse characters. If
you've ever tried listing a program with
graphics or inverse, you'll know that
inverse shows up as italics and graphics
characters show up as meaningless
garbage, or some odd control character
will throw the printer into a stupor that
will mess up the rest of the listing. This
program lists out a program in its exact
form, graphics and all. If examined
closely, you can see that this program
was used to list itself.
Using this program is simple. If
there is a Basic program you wish to
list, load it in from disk (or cassette)
and then re-save it out under a different
name using a LIST "D:name"
command, rather than the SAVE
command. The purpose behind this is
to have the program as text, rather than
encoded in Basic keywords. If it's a text
by lA'xke Bassman
file you want to print, you clearly don't
have to do this. Next run this program
and enter the name of the file your text
is in. That's all it takes.
Custom Font Message Printer
The program in Listing 2 will print
anything you want in a custom
character set. If you've ever had a desire
to see a message in script or computer-
type letters or whatever, this will do
the trick. All you need to have are the
custom fonts stored on disk (or
cassette) in a nine sector file as
generated by Instedit (APX) or just
about all of the other character
generators. There are a few examples of
its handiwork shown in the
accompanying chart. From top to
bottom, the alphabet is shown in
computer-style, gothic, fancy fonts and
a few others. Making use of this
program (custom font message printer)
is even easier than the file lister above.
Just run it and, when prompted, enter
the name of your character set and then
the message you want printed. If your
character set is stored on cassette, type
C: for the character set name, when
asked.
Custom Font Variant
Listing 4 shows a program that looks a
good deal like the custom font message
printer. In fact, it is a cross between
that program and the program lister. It
does the same thing as the custom font
program except that it prints out a
whole file in the new font rather than a
one line message. This would be useful
to take a file generated with a word
processing program and, after putting it
through this program, end up with a
professional looking document printed
No. 74- August 1984
MICRO
41
in a pleasant typeface of your choice.
There are some commercially available
programs which do just this. Using it
consists simply of entering the name of
the font and the name of the file to be
printed.
Entering The Programs
Typing in these programs can be a bit
of a problem because of the machine
language subroutine embedded in
them. The Basic part is easy to do. The
straightforward approach is to type
those graphics characters just as you
see them. The graphics keyboard
included in the Atari Basic Reference
manual is a guide to finding all the
right keys (the back cover has a
relatively easy to use diagram). If you
do decide to do it this way, make sure
that you save the program before
running it. Any typo could bomb the
computer; let this be a word to the
wise.
Another method is to assemble the
source code using the Assembler/
Editor cartridge or one of the many
other assemblers available. The source
code for the machine language portion
is shown in Listing 3. The programs
all use the same machine language
subroutine, so the most difficult part
only has to be done once, even if you
want all the programs. The amount of
code needed to be typed in this way
is longer than typing the graphics
characters, but fortunately the code
is made up of normal alphanumeric
characters. You then assemble the code
to a disk file and modify either of the
programs to load in this subroutine
from that disk file. If you choose to do
it this way [not highly recommended),
the changes to listings 1 & 2 are as
follows;
1 -Delete lines 11,12,13.
2 - Add lines 90-130 as shown.
90 OPEn #3,4,0, "D:ASSEM.OBJ"
100 FOR K = 1 TO 6:GET #3,X:NEXT K
110 TRAP 130:K =
120 K = K-I-1:GET #3,X:
ML$(K,K)=CHR$(X);GOTO 120
130 CLOSE #3
The modification here can be used
with both programs and with the
variant by changing the line numbers.
The filename in line 90 is your
assembled version of the source code.
These programs are very similar, so
if you want to have all of them, I
would recommend typing in one of
them, saving it, and then modify it
until you have the other program.
Conversely, if you're only bothering
with one program, keep in mind it
doesn't take much effort to obtain the
other ones.
Theory of Operation
You already have all you need to know
to get these programs working. But if
you want to know how they work, and
maybe do clever things of your own
with your Epson, read on.
You may ask how we get a large
number of new character sets out of a
printer normally limited to regular and
Italic characters, in various sizes. Well,
these programs don't exactly print out
new characters, they draw them. All
reasonably new Epson printers (or old
ones retrofitted with Graftrax + ] have
the ability to do graphics. There's no
reason to limit use of the graphics to
charts or drawings; you can also
improve on your regular text
performance. The basic task to be
accomplished is to get a character from
the file, find out how the character is
drawn, send this information over to
the Epson and repeat this procedure
until you reach the end of the file [or
message).
Where Character Sh^ies Are
The character set in use can be found at
the address specified by PEEK(756)
•256. Location 756 (2F4 hex) is the
Character Base register, holding the
high byte of the address. The low byte
is assumed to be zero. The standard
character set is at $E000. Though the
topic has been more comprehensively
covered in other articles, let me
quickly refresh your memory on how
they (the characters) are stored. Each
character can be 8 bits wide and 8 bits
high, total of 8 bytes (64 bits). Usually
there is a little room on top, bottom
and the sides so that characters won't
be squeezed too tightly together when
shown next to each other. Each row of a
character is one byte and there are eight
rows going from the top to bottom of
any one character. So the capital letter
"E" is represented in memory like so:
00000000
01111110
01100000
01111100
01100000
01100000
01111110
00000000
byte = $00
byte = $7E
byte = $60
byte = $7C
byte = $60
byte = $60
byte = $7E
byte = $00
Getting a Character to the Printer
This is how the computer reads a
normal or redefined character. Now
we've got to send this information out
to the printer. Things would be simple
if the printer could be fed the character
a byte (row) at a time, just like the
computer understands them. But this
isn't the case. While the computer
reads a character a row at a time, from
top to bottom, the printer head is a
vertical column, so it does each
character a column at a time, from left
to right. This makes life difficult. What
we're going to have to do is take each
byte that forms a row of the character
and take off the leftmost bit. We're
going to take these bits off all eight
rows, line them up in a column and
then send the column off to the printer.
Then we do this for the eight columns
that make a character, from left to
right. Visually, this means that instead
of taking slices of bits off the top of say,
that 'E' we saw earlier, we take slices
vertically off the sides.
Theory into Code
This cut and paste type of operation
with bits can be turned into a basic
program. To output one complete
character, we need two loops, one
going from left to right sending out
columns of data and an inner loop that
puts together these columns. There's a
chart showing each pin of the print
head and what is needed to turn it on:
28
-
64
-
32
-
16
-
8
-
4
-
2
-
1
-
For each of the pins you want to
turn on, add that number. For example
sending a 34 would turn on the third
pin from the top and the second from
the bottom. It's no surprise that each of
these values is 2 to the power of the pin
number (pins numbers range from to
7, bottom to top), and we'll use this
fact. To find out if we want to turn on a
pin, we look at a row of the character,
AND it with the column number we're
up to and, if we get a positive value,
we know to turn it on. Column
numbers, not coincidentally, are
represented just like the pin numbers
but from right to left, instead of bottom
42
MICRO
No. 74 - August 1984
Listing 2
5026 8D 80 06
STA B
5083 90 08
BCC AMAIN
5029 A9 00
FIRSTG
LDA m
5085 A9 02
SHALL
LDA #2
; CUSTOM CHARACTER DUMP
502B 8D 81 06
STA G
5087 CA
DO
DEX
; MIKE
BASSMAN
502E 8D 82 06
STA SUM
5088 F0 03
BEQ AMAIN
5031 A9 00
SETVL
LDA m
508A 0A
ASL A
03-^2
ICCOM
EQU $3'i2
5033 85 2C
STA VL
508B D0 FA
BNE DO
03'i'i
ICBAL
EQU $3'i'i
5035 85 2D
STA VL+1
508D 8D 8A 06
AMAIN
STA MASK
03-15
ICBAH
EQU $3'i5
5037 AD 85 06
LDA J
5090 2D 89 06
AND VALUE
03-^8
ICBLL
EQU $3'i8
503A A2 03
LDX #3
5093 8D 8B 06
STA RESULT
03-^9
ICBLH
EQU $3'i9
5096 C9 00
CMP m
0680
B
EQU $680
; MULTIPLY BY 8
5098 F0 IF
BEQ NEXTG
0681
G
EQU $681
509A 38
SEC
0682
SUM
EQU $682
503C 18
MULT8
CLC
509B A9 07
LDA iC7
002C
VL
EQU $2C
503D 06 2D
ASL AL+1
509D ED 81 06
SBC G
0685
J
EQU $685
503F 0A
ASL A
50A0 C9 00
CMP m
0687
AD
EQU $687
50-10 90 02
BCC LOWDO
50A2 D0 05
BNE POWER
0689
VALUE
EQU $689
5042 E6 2D
INC VL+1
50A4 A9 01
LDA fl
068A
MASK
EQU $68A
5044 CA
LOWDO
DEX
50A6 18
CLC
068B
RESULT
EQU $68B
5045 D0 F5
BNE MULT8
50A7 90 09
BCC DOSUM
068C
INVRS
EQU $68C
5047 85 2C
5049 18
STA VL
CLC
50A9 AA
50AA A9 02
POWER
TAX
LDA #2
•?m<i
ORG $5000
504A 6D 87 06
ADC AD
50AC CA
D02
DEX
504D 85 2C
STA VL
50AD F0 03
BEQ DOSUM
SAVE
NUMBER OF
ARGUMENTS
504F 90 02
BCC ADDHI
50AF 0A
ASL A
CHAR
MEM HI
5051 E6 2D
INC VL+1
50B0 D0 FA
BNE D02
CHAR
MEM LO
5053 18
ADDHI
CLC
50B2 18
DOSUM
CLC
SET INVERSE VIDEO FUG
5054 A5 2D
LDA VL+1
50B3 6D 82 06
ADC SUM
5056 6D 88 06
ADC AD+1
50B6 8D 82 06
STA SUM
■i<im 68'
START
PU
5059 85 2D
STA VL+1
50B9 EE 81 06
NEXTG
INC G
5001 68
VIA
505B 18
CLC
50BC A9 08
LDA #8
5002 8D 88 06
STA AD+1
505C A5 2C
LDA VL
50BE CD 81 06
CMP G
5005 68
PLA
505E 6D 81 06
ADC G
50C1 D0 A6
BNE ELONG
5006 8D 87 06
STA AD
5061 85 2C
STA VL
50C3 A2 40
LDX #$40
5009 68
PU
5063 90 0A
BCC ANDIT
50C5 A9 0B
LDA #$B
500A 68
PU
5065 E6 2D
INC VL+1
50C7 9D 42 03
STA ICCOM, X
500B 8D 85 06
STA J
5067 B0 06
BCS ANDIT
50CA A9 82
LDA #SUM
500E A9 00
LDA #$00
5069 18
ELONG
CLC
50CC 9D 44 03
STA ICBAL, X
5010 8D 8C 06
STA INVRS
506A 90 C5
BCC SETVL
50CF A9 06
LDA /SUM
5013 AD 85 06
LDA J
506C 18
LONG
CLC
50D1 9D 45 03
STA ICBAH, X
5016 C9 80
CMP iC$80
506D 90 BA
BCC FIRSTG
50D4 A9 01
LDA #1
5018 90 0A
BCC INIZ
506F A0 00
ANDIT
LDY #0
50D6 9D 48 03
STA ICBLL, X
50U 29 7F
AND #$7F
5071 Bl 2C
LDA (VL),y
50D9 A9 00
LDA #0
501C 8D 85 06
STA J
5073 4D 8C 06
EOR INVRS
50DB 9D 49 03
STA ICBLH, X
501F A9 FF
LDA #$FF
5076 8D 89 06
STA VALUE
50DE 20 56 E4
JSR $E456
5021 8D 8C 06
STA INVRS
5079 AE 80 06
LDX B
50E1 18
NEXTB
CLC
507C E0 00
cpx m
50E2 CE 80 06
DEC B
SETUP
ROW/COLUMN COUNTERS
507E D0 05
BNE SMALL
50E5 10 85
BPL LONG
5080 A9 01
LDA §1
50E7 60
RTS
502-; A9 07
INIZ
LDA #7
5082 18
CLC
50E8
END
to top. This s
trategy is represented in
idea.
sending all thi
s pin information, you
the following piece of Basic-like code.
IF Z THEN SUM = SUM +
have to tell it to go into h
igh resolution
J = ASC (CHARACTER)
INT(2 (7-G) +
.5):REM add pin value
mode and then
say how many columns
A = ADR(STARTOFCHARACTER-
to running total if we should.
of graphics you want.
Turning on
DATA)
NEXT G:REM
do it
for the entire
graphics is
jone by
sending an
FOR B = 7 TO STEP -1:REM the outer
column.
ESCAPE, then
a "k". You tell it how 1
column loop.
PUT #4,SUM:REM output the column
many columns of graphics by sending
SUM = 0:REM
clear the print head
to printer.
out two more values, the first being the
counter.
NEXT B:REM
now do
this for all 8
low byte of the # of
columns, the
FOR G = TO 7:REM inner loop totals
columns.
second being the high by
te.
up a column.
That's all there is to
making your
Y = PEEK(A + G + J*8):REM get the row
This is ridiculously slow when done
Epson print anything you want. The
value.
in Basic, so
the machine language
programs listed here are
only a few of
X=INT(2 B + .5J:REM
the column
subroutine just
uses thij
algorithm, but
the possible applications
. Using some
number.
runs infinitely
faster.
There is only
of the informat
ion shown here, you can
Z = X AND Y-.REM yoi
1 can't do a
one other thinj
; you need to know to
invent new and interesting uses for
boolean AND i
n Basic, bi
Jt you get the
control the Ep
son. Before you start
your printer.
No. 74 - August 1984
MICRO
43
^■^^''^M':-:---:-''
:/^'..■V:^:';;■r:f:i:4«i®^ ]B:\M:;. -'ry-r-Z^^y;: •;.■;, ; :,7,.- ;.;,: ■ ;■:; .■ ;■ ■ . ■,;, ,,:
JLS
ML5 CJL985 ="E1 ■nBJE»Gli>''GL''T3E-'ElK]5HJa*tax-« ulH-»-CX:L^H>n*"'
© ^^
2Gi
I = 0:D1M KS C± J.5 , M5r CX555
K5 = "HH^y'- ^y'M I/*"
3Gi
A -PEEK t7565 « 2 5 6
© -*«
SO
S>IM MStJ.S3j.H MS t .1 5 5 Printer Sample
GRAPHICS JLS
&0
© ^^
so
© Listing
PO
PO
SXTION 5 , J. : ? »6;""AMV TEXT"
PO
|1
SI now 5,9:? t»G;"for- epson""
1
iO DIM ML$t3003
ii "L$ tia =:"hhi|^/hB»?/hh«tfl/Hi^^»JyTSXl/>T^^
o a*Kt.
a Hsnu'Tfr' -*■/ ii^ R EEnn,-*-Mfc?/n,E ta— ^^-t^/n-'-
i2 ML$t32 3^"-Ha,i^:/Ti,aija-H/'-K;ii-H3«^fa.Mj^'i^xiKi,/n*^(^ Krajk.
csEi«x.^--jr/M*«.^^.K3*8EivriL/^*iKi^ mjiyhjjF;i^t^ywmyrTizyajni-.y'ui3SiG"
©i3 ML$ci38>-^"anaB-»itiini>-»HuaE-»aK3H-»a^»ai-» uE?p-cTi<^*n*"
i? 3
^orDiM K$ CII3 , M$ C2553
20 K$-"hB»/- h/«i I/*"
30 fl
--PEEKC7 563*t256
40 DIM N$ CIS) , NM$ CI53
SO GRAPHICS 18
© eo POSI
VO P S I
TION 5,i:? «6;"ANV TEKT"
TION 2,5:? «6; "IJLaJLil^-ljJbJLJaUilfJijirU"
80 POSITIOM 5,9:? «6;"fon epson"
@ 90 FOR K=;I TO 2000 : NEKT K
I90
GRAPHICS 0:POSITION 2,6
200
? "Please enten the naMe of -the disk file which cont
© ^i"S
the pnognaM to be listed. cex : PROG . BAS3 '•
210
? :? "NaMe of pnognaM:'"
220
TRAP 350 : NM$-"D :■■: INPUT N $ : NM$ CLE N C NM$ 3 + I 3 =N $
240
OPEN «3,4,0,HMS
INPUT **3 , M$
270
TRAP 400
® 290
= L.ENCM$3:IF L.ENCM$>>eO THEN « = 60
I=0 : J = 0*t3 : IF J>255 THEN I = i:J = J-256
295
OPEN «4,8,0,""P"
300
PUT «4,27:PUT «4 , A3C C "K-'J : PUT «4,J:PUT »4 , I
© 3iO
FOR K-± TO Q
320
J=A5C CM$ CK , K3 3 : IF J<96 AND J>3i THEN J=J-32:GOTO 330
322
IF J<32 THEN J=J+64sGOTO 330
© 324
IF J<224 AND J>i53 THEN J=J-32:GOTO 330
326
IF J<i60 AND J>i27 THEN J=J+64
330
DUMMY = USR CADRCML^J ,A,J3
© 340
NEKT K : PUT «4,27:PUT «4,64:CL.OSE **4:L.PRINT
342
IF Q<LENCM$J THEN M$=M$ t 6i J : GO T O 285
345
TRAP 350 : GOTO 240
© 350
CLOSE «3: CLOSE »4: GRAPHICS 18
360
POSITION 6,4!? «6;"all done"
370
FOR K=255 TO O STEP -izSOUND O , K , i 2 , 5 : SOU ND i,2S5-K,i2,3
© :ne:xt k : sound 1,0,0,0
380
390
GRA
? :
PHICS O : END
? "LJJ!4;l;I•l^«^+:■^•^l►>^:Ir|■•^:^•.^;rI!l**=^:■bl^a" : ? : close «3:goto
©200
400
4IO
©*20
430
? ' •
END
? "
END
44
MICRO
No. 74 ■ August 1984
Printer Sample ^
1rra@ @®[h]|?0.@1?@ ®M1jni=,SIXl@ 031?' iSlDnIL ©©Oflf^iynrSK K&1]CfiiO:D[L,@gJ©@
Listing 3
!:/'■
XO DIM ML$C3{)0}
A3 ML$ CJ.9 8} =-'a T]B->|rHC3D-ia/T3E->aK3H->a'vCIx-> wOHIE/HJ'a* ■ ■
AT" I = 0:DIM K$ tiij , MS t&0 3
2 K$ = "hD*/- h/Hi I/*"
30 DIM BSCi02-»3 :A=:ADRCB$}
■*0 DIM NS CJ.5} , NMS CJ.5}
SO GRAPHICS i8
60 POSITIOH -»,JL:? «6; "CUSTOM FOHT"
70 POSITION 2,5:? **6 ; "G lJkidhlila W i JLiJLIjj a33''
so POSITION 5,5:? «6 ; •• for^ epson"
AOO FOR K=i TO 2000:NEKT K
A40 GRAPHICS 0:P0SITI0N 2,6
A50 ? ■ 'LXtiiiauiiXiili : MaxiMUM of SO c h an ac "t er^s ■'
ifeo ? :? ■■Please en-ten rucss-astef you wish -to pnin-tQ"
X7 ? "Message :•■: TRAP i.*0: INPUT M$
A60 IF LENCMS>=0 THEN i40
A50 GRAPHICS 0:P0SITI0N 2,6
200 ? "Please en-ten -the nane of -the clisK file which con-t
ains -the char-ac-ten fon-tto be used tex; GOTH.SETJ'^
©
Q
2iO
220
230
240
250
260
270
280
290
300
3J.O
320
330
340
350
360
370
? ;? ■■NaMe of chanac-ten
TRAP -330 : NMS = "D :•■: INPUT
OPEN **3,'«,0,NMS
FOR K=0 TO i023
GET **3 , B
POKE A+K, B
NEKT K : CLOSE «3:TRAP 400
OPEN «.4 , 8 , O, ■■P" : TRAP 420
= l_EN CMS} *t8 : IF J>255 THEN
set : "■
NS : NMS CLEN CNM^} +i3 -H^
O
i = i
PUT
j= j-25e
**.4 , J : PUT
J>3i THEN J=:J-32
**4 : L P R I N T
PUT «4,27';PUT **-*,ASCC^'K
FOR K=i TO LENCM53
J=ASC CMS tK , KJ 3 : IF J<96 AND
DUMMV=:USR CADR C ML S } , A, J)
NEKT K:PUT «4,2 7':PUT «-* , 6-* : CLOS E
GRAPHICS J.8
POSITION 6,4:? t*6;"all <ione"
FOR K=255 TO O STEP -i:SOUND 0,K,i2,5
: NEKT K : SOUND J. , O , O , O
380 GRAPHICS 0:END
39 O ? : ? ■•Ca
200
400 ^
4J.O END
420 ? ■■
430 END
**4 , I
SOUND i , 255-
i2
'■■5ii--J3aMnKaMi'
ISERROR: PRXHTER OR XMTERFACE NOT RE
CLOSE »3:GOTO
y.jTsa-
No. 74 - August 1984
MICRO
45
pi r i ill * Bj d .4, it ,ia G0TI-J;.1:G ffiBSiiS'f?
i Kk ft le K" K! .K K B. mil Si "^a it' If ii' K" ~» "ft .p X. m m
ssiin le »■»-*■ i rie ijssuiB at MXEirlO
IMn & 9, K! it M 1. CHI l-B "t lb aa
.Si U r £! t li £9 -\ \ b E» St fi] V HB L "It M
Printer Sample
© Listing 4
iO DIM ML.^C300}
i2 MLS C92 3="J^,HilU'Tl,a»J3-a*^-HE31^HEnB^«,MJL'B*-yTKi/T^
Oi3 MLS ci^ej ="0 ■nB-'H«ni>-"HU'TJE-"HiK3H-"avai-' uOHIKL^-o-n*"
i7 1=0 : DIM K5 C±±J , M$ C255J
©30 DIM BS CX024} :A=ADRCBS}
■40 DIM NS CX5) , NMS C15} , MMS C15}
so GRAPHICS X8
06O P03ITI0H -* , X : ? »6; "CUSTOM FOHT"«
70 POSITION 2,5:? »& : ■ ■rrt^A*rJht! t=.^ fJrJ<igT3a"
80 POSITION 5,9!? »*6;"#=on epson"
qXOO for K=X to 20G0 : NEKT K
XXO ? "Please en-ten -the nane of -the disk file which con-t
ains -the chanac-ten fon-t-to be used Cex : GOTH.SETJ"
se-t : "
N$ : NMS CLEN CNMS) -^XJ
-then nai^e of the disK
NS ! MMS CLEN CMM$} -^XJ =NS
= 60
: J-256
«4. , J : PUT
.X20 ? :? "NaMe of chanac-ten
X30 TRAP 390 : NM$=="D :": INPUT
X^O OPEN *«3,4,0,NMS
X50 FOR K=0 TO X023
I
X60 GET «3 , B
X70 POKE A-I-K,B
X80 NEKT K:CLOSE »«3:TRAP -400
'200 GRAPHICS OsPOSITION 2,6
2x0 ? "Please en-ten
-ted. f ex ! FILE.BASJ"
®220 ? :? "NaMe of pnognaws"
2 30 TRAP 350 : MM$="D !"! INPUT
240 OPEN «3,4,0,MM$
©250 INPUT **3 , MS
260 TRAP 400
270 Q=::LEN CMSJ : IF L E N C MS 3 > 6 O THEN
©280 OPEN »*4 , 8 , O, "P" : TRAP 420
290 I=0:J=Q»8:IF J>255 THEN I=X:J
300 PUT «4,27:PUT »*■* , ASC C"K"J : PUT
©3XO FOR K=X TO Q
320 J = ASC CMS CK, Ki i :IF J06 AND J>3X THEN J = J
324. IF J<224 AND J>X59 THEN J = J-32:GOTO 330
Q326 IF J<X60 AND J>X27 THEN J = J-^64
3 30 DUMMV=USR CADR CMLS) , A , J)
340 NEKT K : PUT «4,27:PUT n4,64:CLOSE «4:LPRINT
0342 XF a<LENCMS3 THEN MS = MS C 6X J : GOT O 270
345 TRAP 350:G0T0 250
350 CLOSE »*3 : GRAPHICS X8
360 POSITION 6,4:? «6 ; " a 1 1 done"
370 FOR K=255 TO G STEP -XsSOUND O , K , X2 , 5 : SOUND
: NEKT K : SOUND X, 0,0,0
380 GRAPHICS O3END
390 ? :
XXO
400 ? "
4Xe END
420 ? "
430 END
NS
file -to be pnin
tt4 , X
■32
©
^■SxiERROR XN LO<
ItDXNG CHARaCTI
ER SI
ai" : ?
■SERROR : PRINTER
OR XNTERraCE
NOT
READVJ
TERROR IN OPERO
riOM - PLEASE
TRY
■'■•.T«T"Ti<;i
X , 255-K , X2
: CLOSE t«3 ! GOTO
JMCftO
46
MICRO
No. 74- August 1984
^^e^(Ztune.
▼
▼
▼
▼
Arithmetic in BASIC
▼
▼
▼
Greater mathematical precision and a way to
calculate the lunar-based Jewish Calendar.
EIHE
SEE
by Ro\i B. Johannesen
Many common implementations of
BASIC in microcomputers today use a
binary representation for real numbers
which has either 24 or 32 bits for
the mantissa and 7 bits for the
characteristic. This translates to either
6.1 or 9.5 decimal digits of precision,
respectively. Occasionally, greater
precision is required; statistical
calculations are notable in requiring
many extra digits of precision during
the intermediate stages of calculations
because so many results are derived as
the differences between two numbers
that are almost equal, so that several of
the most significant digits are lost in a
single step.
Computer software for processing
arithmetic statements never warns that
bits have overflowed the mantissa,
even though this will inevitably result
in loss of precision. However, overflow
of bits in the characteristic is always
flagged. The program in Listing 1 will
test any computer for the length
of mantissa in its floating point
representation and report it both in
terms of bits and equivalent number of
decimal digits. The largest integer
that can be faithfully represented has
a mantissa of all T bits, and is
equivalent to 2tMl if there are M bits
in the mantissa. The program will also
test the number of bits used for the
characteristic. In this case the program
will be interrupted at the occurrence
of floating point overflow. If your
computer does not support the TRAP
(or the equivalent ON ERROR GOTO)
command in line 210, then line 270
will never be reached. However, the
last value of I printed before overflow
occurs is the number of bits in the
characteristics; the last value of X is a
trifle greater than half the largest
possible number for that machine. The
largest possible number, when there
are N bits in the characteristic and M
bits in the mantissa, is 2t|2tN-l)
multiplied by a fraction, very nearly
unity, whose numerator contains M ' 1'
bits and whose denominator contains a
'1' bit followed by M '0' bits. With a
7-bit characteristic and a 32-bit
mantissa, this is very nearly
1.70141 183E -1-38. The hexadecimal
representation may vary slightly
among BASIC interpreters due to
differences in characteristic biasing
and in the way the sign bit is expressed.
In Microsoft BASIC, the largest
possible number has the hex value
$FF7FFFFFFF. If your machine lets you
alter a number in BASIC'S variable
table, via monitor or POKEs, you can
enter the above value and return to
BASIC to print its decimal equivalent.
Extended precision routines in
assembly language are perfectly
straightforward, rapid and effective;
though they tend to get messy for
multiplication and especially so for
division. Nevertheless, if extensive
calculations are required, this method
is recommended as being the fastest. It
is possible to achieve workable results
in BASIC by the procedure given here,
in which a large number is broken up
and arithmetic operations carried out
on the separated parts, with the results
combined at the end. If it is necessary
for the final result to have greater
precision than is available in BASIC,
then it will have to be expressed in
parts, but this is entirely feasible.
In brief, a large number is expressed
as (M*10t6-i-T*10t3-)-U), where M is
the coefficient of the millions place, T
the coefficient of the thousands place,
and U the units. Obviously, this
scheme can be extended to both larger
and smaller numbers by choosing the
proper powers of ten as multipliers. In
No. 74 • August 1984
MICRO
47
O 20
30
40
O 50
100
110
120
O 130
140
150
^ 170
180
190
O 200
210
220
rs 230
^ 240
250
260
© 270
280
REM PROGRAM TO MEASURE MAXIMUM PRECISION AND MAGNITUDE OF
REM REAL NUMBERS> WHEN ADDING 1 TO OR SUBTRACTING 1 FROM A GIVEN
REM NUMBER FAILS TO GIVE A RESULT 1 DIFFERENT FROM THE STARTING
REM NUMBER, THE LIMIT OF PRECISION HAS BEEN REACHED. WHEN OVERFLOW
REM ERROR OCCURS, THE MAXIMUM MAGNITUDE HAS BEEN REACHED.
FOR 1=1 TO 100
B=2tl
A=B-1
C=B+1
PRINT I;C-B;B-A;B
IF C-B< > 1 OR B-A< > 1 THEN 170
NEXT I
N=I»LOG(2)/LOG(10)
N=INT(10«N)/10
PRINT: PRINT I; "BITS IN MANTISSA": PRINT
PRINT N; "DECIMAL DIGITS OF PRECISION":PRINT
TRAP 270
FOR 1=1 TO 100
N=2tl
X=2t(N-2)
PRINT I;N-1;X
NEXT I
PRINT I-1;"BITS IN CHARACTERISTIC"
END
precision arithmetic is evaluation of
the following division:
(31524 + (235'C + 12'm+13'n)'
7654331/181440,
where C is an integer with a value
about 300 at the present time, and m
and n are small integers. The quotient
is not required here, but the remainder
points to the day of the week on which
the New Year occurs through a table.
This division cannot be done without
error in 9.5 digit BASIC. It is
programmed in lines 2000-2330.
Although the quotient is not required,
as noted above, it is calculated in the
subroutine for illustrative purposes.
The program is written in
"standard" BASIC and should run
with little or no change on most
microcomputers. To use the program,
simply enter the common or calendar
year in response to the prompting
message. The results are printed to the
screen in the following form:
ENTER CIVIL YEAR?
the present case, M,T, and U are not
larger than 3 digits each for any number
up to 999,999,999. While this number
can be expressed without loss of
precision in 9.5 digit BASIC, the
product of two such numbers will have
18 digits and 8 or 9 of the least
significant digits will be lost. Addition
and subtraction are done by parts, with
proper attention to carry (if Ul = 843
and '2 = 417, then Ul + U2 = 1260.
I.e., the result has U = 260 and there is
a carry of 1 into T). Multiplication
follows the rule for multiplication of
polynomials:
(Ml»10t6+Tl»10t3+Ul)»(M2»10t6+
T2»10t3 + U2)=Ml«M2«10tl2 +
(Ml»T2+M2»Tl)«10t9+(Ml»U2+M2-
»Ul+Tl»T2)»10t6+(Tl»U2+T2»Ul)»
10t 3+Ul*U2
Of course, the powers of ten are not
explicitly entered, or you have gained
nothing. Rather, the calculations are
done on the coefficients, and the partial
products carried along. If combining
the terms at the end after multiplying
by the appropriate powers of ten gives
adequate precision, the results can
simply be multiplied out and printed
in the usual way. But if the extra
precision thus gained is wanted in the
result, the numbers must be converted
using STR$ and the character strings
which result are then concatenated to
give the final result. In order to take
account of carry conectly, addition,
subtraction and multiplication must
proceed from right to left; while
division is calculated from left to right.
A practical application of this
method is illustrated by the program in
Listing 2. Although there are many
calendar programs available, this is the
only one I know of for calculating the
date of the Jewish New Year. The
Jewish calendar is a lunar calendar,
with months of length alternately 29
and 30 days, so that the first of every
month falls within a day or so of a new
moon. Twelve such months total only
354 days, about 11.25 less than a solar
year. In order to avoid the large errors
that would arise from a deficit of 11
days per year, seven leap years of 13
months each are distributed over a 19
year cycle. The difference between 19
solar years and 235 lunar months is
only 1.44907 hours. The length of the
year may be adjusted by plus or minus
one day in order that the New Year will
not fall on Sunday, Wednesday or
Friday. These small adjustments over
the years also compensate for the extra
1.449 hours mentioned above. For
further information and for derivation
of the method and formulas used see
two articles by Louis A. Resnikoff in
Sciipta Mathematica 9,191-195,
274-277(1943). The only part of the
calculation that requires extended
1984
CIVIL YEAR = 1984
JEWISH YEAR = 5745
NEW YEAR'S DAY IS ON
THU SEP 27
ORDINARY YEAR 354 DAYS
FIRST DAY OF PASSOVER
IS ON APR 6 1985
The program gives not only the date
of the New Year, but also tells whether
the year is an ordinary year or a leap
year, the exact number of days in the
year, and the date of the first day of
Passover.
As the accompanying listing
illustrates, it is relatively direct to
write programs in BASIC that will
handle arithmetic calculations with
any desired degree of precision, by
breaking the problem into smaller parts
and doing the calculations for each part
separately.
The program gives not only the date
of the New Year, but also tells whether
the year is an ordinary year or a leap
year, the exact number of days in the
year, and the date of the first day of
Passover.
48
MICRO
No. 74 - August 1964
To construct a calendar for any
given year it is necessary to know the
arrangement of months in the Jewish
year. The transUteration of Hebrew
characters is apparently not fully
agreed on,- I have used a scheme that
seems to be widely accepted. In an
ordinary year of 354 days the months
are as follows: Tishri, 30 days;
Heshvan, 29 days,- Kislev, 30 days;
Tebeth, 29 days; Shebat, 30 days; Adar,
29 days; Nisan, 30 days; lyar, 29 days;
Sivan, 30 days; Tammuz, 29 days; Ab,
30 days; and Elul, 29 days. Some of
the important holidays are New Year,
Tishri 1; Yom Kippur, Tishri 10;
Hanukkah, Kislev 25-Tebeth 2 or 3 (see
below on the length of Kislev); and
Passover, Nisan 15-21. There are three
possible adjustments to this calendar. If
the year is a leap year, then a thirteenth
month of 29 days called Adar Sheni, or
Second Adar, is interpolated between
Adar (now First Adar) and Nisan. First
Adar is increased to 30 days. If the
length of the year is 353 or 383 days
(defective year), Kislev is shortened to
29 days. If the length of the year is 355
or 385 days (full year), then Heshvan is
increased to 30 days.
For the current year of 1983-84
[Jewish year 5744), the program gives
the date of the New Year as September
8, 1983 and the length of the year as
385 days (both a leap year and a full
year). The correspondence with the
civil calendar can be tabulated as
follows:
Jewish date
Tishri I, 5744
Heshvan I
Kislev I
Tebeth I
Shebat 1
First Adar I
Second Adar
Nisan I
lyar I
Sivan I
Tammuz I
Ab I
Elul I
Tishri 1,5745
Civil date
Sep 8,1983
Oct 8
Nov 7
Dec 7
Jan 5, 1984
Feb 4
IMar 5
Apr 3
May 3
Jun I
Jul I
Jul 30
Aug 29
Sep 27
As the accompanying listing
illustrates, it is relatively direct
to write programs in BASIC that will
handle arithmetic calculations with
any desired degree of precision, by
breaking the problem into smaller parts
and doing the calculations for each part
separately.
10 REM PROGRAM TO CALCULATE DATE OF JEWISH NEW YEAR
20 REM METHOD BASED ON NOTES BY L.A.RESNIKOFF
30 REM "Scrlpta Mathematlca" 9,191-195,274-277(19^3).
40 REM WRITTEN BY Rolf B. Johannesen
50 REM LAST REVISION 20 MAR 1984
60 DIM RC(7,4),RT(6,4)
65 B$=CHR$(32)
70 FOR Rl=l TO 4
80 READ RN
90 FOR R2= 1 TO RN
100 READ RC{R2,R1):NEXT R2
110 FOR R2 =1 TO 6
120 READ RT(R2,R1):NEXT R2:NEXT Rl
130 PRINT "ENTER CIVIL YEAR"
140 INPUT YR
150 JY=YR-h3761
160 REM FIND NO. OF 19-YEAR CYCLE
170 C=INT((JY-1)/19)
180 REM AND YEAR NO. IN THAT CYCLE
190 R=JY-19»C
230 REM SET YEAR TYPE AS ORDINARY
240 REM CHANGE LATER IF A LEAP YEAR
250 Y$= "ORDINARY ":YL=354
260 FOR K=l TO 4: FOR J=l TO 7
270 IF R=RC(J,K) THEN 290
280 NEXT J : NEXT K
290 ON K GOTO 400,400,400,300
300 REM LEAP YEAR (13 MONTHS)
310 Y$="LEAP":yL=384
320 N=INT((R-l)/3)
33Z GOSUB 2010 : GOTO 420
400 REM ORDINARY YEAR (12 MONTHS)
410 GOSUB 2000
420 FOR RR=1 TO 6
430 IF FR<=RT(RR,K) THEN 500
440 NEXT RR
450 IF FR< =174959 THEN YT=1:G0T0 810
460 J=9:YT=-l:GOT0 620
500 ON RR GOTO 550,600,650,700,750,800
550 YT=-1:GOTO 610
600 YT=1
610 J=2
620 D$="MON":GOTO 1000
650 YT=0:J=3
660 D$="TUE":G0TO 1000
700 YT=-INT(K/4)
710 GOTO 760
750 YT=1
760 J=5:D$="THU"
770 GOTO 1000
800 YT=-1
810 J=7:D$="SAT"
1000 REM NOW WE HAVE DAY OF WEEK
1010 REM NEXT CALCULATE DATE
1020 Q=(-332844+1565*C-h282084)(M-483349»N-hFR)/25920
1030 IQ=22-hINT(YR/100)-INT(YR/400)-INT(Q-h0.75)-hJ
1040 YL=YL-hYT
1050 IF IQ> 30 THEN 1090
1060 M$="SEP"
1070 DT=IQ
1080 GOTO 1105
1090 M$="OCT"
1100 DT=IQ-30
1105 GOSUB 3100
1110 PRINT .-PRINT: PRINT
1120 PRINT(" civil year = "-hSTR$(YR))
1130 PRINT:PRINT(" JEWISH YEAR = "-hSTR$(JY))
1140 PRINT: PRINT" NEW YEAR'S DAY IS ON"
1150 P$=B$-hB$-hD$-hB$-hM$-hB$-kSTR$(DT)
1160 PRINT: PRINT P$
1170 PRINT:PRINT(Y$-hB$-h"YEAR"-hB$-hB$) ;
o
o
o
o
o
o
No. 74 ■ August 1984
MICRO
49
u ^h A Pea
80 CPS $239
100 CPS $259
120 CPS $299
150 CPS $349
Economy Printer $47
Graphic Printer $77
SPECIALS
12 Inch Amber Monitor
$89
Concorde Disk Drive
$297
C64 SOFTWARE SPECIALS
Epyx Summer Games $25
Sublogic Fiight Simulator II . .$37
Screenplay Pogo Joe $19
Access Beachhead $23
Infocom Sorcerer $33
Continental Home Acct $47
Timeworks Word Writer $39
Timeworks Data IVtanager II . $39
Commodore Magic Desk . . . $55
Microware Clone Machine . . $39
Blue Sky Super Copy $29
Handle CalcResult Adv'd. ... $75
Professional Word Pro 3 plus
Spellright $69
Synapse Zaxxon $28
Spinnaker Kindercomp $19
Datasoft Dallas Quest $25
Dynatech Codewriter $69
12629 N. latum Blvd.
Suite 138
Phoenix, AZ 85032
CALL TOLL FREE 1-800-431-8697
For Customer Service Call:
602-957-3619
ORDERING & TERMS: Send cashier check, money order,
personQi/company checks allow 3 \A«eks bank clear-
once VISA/MasterCard accepted Provide phone
number with order SHIPPING: add S4 00 for first three
pieces, add St 00 each odditionoi piece. Hardwareadd
SI 0,00 Prices ore for ca5h, VISA ana ^.losterCard add 3%,
Prices subject to change without notice AJI products
subject to ovailabilitv from manufacturers ar~id/or
suppliers All prices m U S dollars.
1180 PRINT (STR$(YL)+B$+"DAYS")
1182 PRINT
1185 PRINT " FIRST DAY OF PASSOVER"
1186 PRINT: PRINT (" IS ON "+PM$+STR$(PD)+STR$(PY))
1190 PRINT : PRINT : PRINT "AGAIN";
1200 INPUT A$
1210 IF ASC(A$)=89 THEN 130
1220 END
2000 N=INT(R/3)
2010 M=R-N-1
2020 REM SUBROUTINE TO FORM AN 11 DIGIT PRODUCT
2030 REM BY MULTIPLYING A 6 DIGIT « A 5 DIGIT NUMBER
2040 REM AND DIVIDING BY A 6 DIGIT NUMBER TO GET
2050 REM A QUOTIENT AND REMAINDER WITH NO LOSS OF PRECISION
2060 REM Tn = THOUSANDS; Un = UNITS; MI = MILLIONS
2070 PR=235*C+12»M+13»N
2080 T1=INT(PR/1000)
2090 U1=PR-1000»T1
2100 T2=765:U2=433
2110 MI=T1»T2
2120 TH=T1«U2+T2«U1
2130 U=U1»U2+31524
2140 U=U+1000«(TH-1000«INT(TH/1000) )
2150 MI=MI+INT(TH/1000)+INT(U/1E6)
2160 U=U-1E6»INT(U/1E6)
2170 REM QUOTIENT NOT NEEDED FOR THIS PROBLEM
2180 REM BUT CARRIED THROUGH FOR ILLUSTRATION
2190 QU=0
2200 DV=18U40
2210 FOR 1=1 TO 6
2220 TD=INT(MI/DV)
2230 QU=10»QU+TD
2240 FR=MI-TD«DV
2250 TU=INT(U/10t(6-I))
2260 MI=FR»10+TU
2270 U=U-TU»10t(6-I)
2280 U=INT(U+i).5)
2290 NEXT I
2300 TD=INT(MI/DV)
2310 QU=10«QU+TD
2320 FR=MI-TD«DV
23-iii RETURN
2900 REM DATA STATEMENTS DIVISIBLE BY 20 GIVE YEARS IN CYCLE
2910 REM WITH ATTRIBUTES LISTED IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING
2920 REM ALTERNATE DATA STATEMENTS GIVE NUMERATORS OF
2930 FRACTION OF A WEEK
2940 REM DENOMINATOR OF FRACTION ALWAYS 181440
2990 REM ORDINARY YEARS THROUGH 3050
2995 REM YEARS FOLLOWING AN ORDINARY YEAR NEXT
3000 DATA 5,2,5,10,13,16
3010 DATA 9923,45359,61763,113603,123119,139523
3015 REM YEARS PRECEDING AN ORDINARY YEAR NEXT
3^2^ DATA 5,1,4,9,12,15
^^% DATA 9923,42708,61763,113603,123119,130007
3035 REM YEARS BETWEEN TWO LEAP YEARS NEXT
3040 DATA 2,7,18
3050 DATA 9923,42708,61763,113603,123119,139523
3055 REM LEAP YEARS NEXT
3060 DATA 7,3,6,8,11,14,17,19
3070 DATA 22090,45359,71279,90334,123119,151690
3100 SU=344:PY=YR+1
3110 IF 400«INT(PY/400)=PY THEN 31^0
3120 IF 100«INT(PY/100)=PY THEN 3150
3130 IF 4«INT(PY/4) < PY THEN 3150
3140 SU=345
3150 PD=YL+IQ-SU
3160 IF PD>31 THEN 3190
3170 PM$="MAR"
3180 RETURN
3190 PM$="APR":PD=PD-31 JVKftO"
3200 RETURN
o
©
50
MICRO
No. 74 • August 1984
Mastering Your VIC-20
Mastering Your Commodore 64
The 8 programs, "run-ready" on disk (C-64) or
tape (VIC-20) and explained in the 160-192 page
book, each demonstrate important concepts of
BASIC while providing useful, enjoyable software.
Programs include:
• Player — compose songs from your keyboard,
save, load and edit for perfect music
• MicroCalc — display calculation program that
make even complex operations easy
• Master — a one or two person guessing game
• Clock — character graphics for a digital clock
VIC-20 with tape & book just $19.95
C-64 with disk & book (avail. Sept.) just $19.95
Look for us at the
International Software Show
Toronto, September 20-23
MICROCalc for C-64
This on-screen calculator comes with diskette and
48-page manual offering a wide variety of useful
screens, and a great way to learn BASIC expressions
if you don't already know them.
• Unlimited calculation length & complexity
• Screens can be linked and saved on disk/cassette
• Build a library of customized screens
• Provide formatted printer output
Diskette & 48-page manual just $29.95
For the Freshest Books, Buy Direct!
• No prehandled books with bent corners
• Books come direct to your door
• No time wasted searching store to store
• 24 hours from order receipt to shipment
• No shipping/handling charges
• No sales tax (except 5% MA res.)
• Check, MO, VISA/MC accepted (prepaid only)
The Computerist Bookcart
P.O. Box 6502, Chelmsford, MA 01824
For faster service, phone: 61 7/256 - 3649.
^eatunc
HILISTER - A Study
and Teaching Aid
(Part 2)
♦
♦
♦
♦
by J. Morris Prosser
EIB I IBG
=in i =i nr=
Move easily within your programs and highlight
parts of text or listings for emphasis or clarity.
3HE
Jim i ^ m l =nTi l — i mr=
nn i I RF
Part 1 of this article described the
HILISTER program and included the
highlighter portion of the assembly
listing. This part will include the
remainder of the listing and will
explain how to interface it to the first
part.
If you have an assembler, the source
code for the first part should be loaded,
then the second part should be added.
You may prefer to enter the second part
as a separate source file, then append it
to the first part. If you do that, you will
not be able to assemble it separately,
since it is not complete in itself. In
either case, UPDO and DOWNDO
should be removed from the list of
equates, since they are internal labels
in the second part of the source. At
label LISTER, change the operation
code mnemonic from RTS to CLD, so
that execution falls through to the
second part of the program. Once the
code has been entered and these
changes have been made, the code can
be assembled and the source and object
code saved as HILISTER. The program
should now be complete.
If you are entering the code without
an assembler, it is best to enter the
second part of the code separately. It
should then be saved:
BSAVE HILISTER2,A$80D0,L$540
In the process of entering the code,
it is a good idea to stop every now and
then (say every screenful) and save
what you have entered to disk, using
the same command as shown above. If
you now BLOAD HILISTERl and
BLOAD HILISTER2, you will be ready
to make the changes necessary to
integrate the two sections. Go to the
monitor (CALL -151) and enter
8062.8063, remembering that a
carriage return is required after each
entry. You should see 8062- 58 FF if the
program has been entered correctly.
Now enter 8062:83 83. Next enter
8087.8088. You should see 8087- 58 FF.
Enter 8087:65 83. One more change is
needed - enter 80CF, and you should
see 80CF- 60. Enter 80CF:D8, and you
are finished. Save the program back to
your disk:
BSAVE HILISTER, A$8000,L$610
You should be able to use the
program now by entering BRUN
HILISTER.
NOTE: In last month's listing of
hilistei (pait I) line 8008 should lead
8008 A9 IB LDA BEGIN
line 8010 should lead
8010 A9 80 LDA BEGIN
52
MICRO
No. 74 ■ August 1984
'j;-;;isll;tt:-;Mi:5|l
81AA 85 FF STA LSTEND+1
* Determine type of listing and
* branch accordingly. If A =
8lAC A9 8D LDA #$8D
» #188
= Applesoft
81AE A0 00 LDY H
» $
= monitor
8150 91 FA STA ( BUFST ),Y
O
» C
= Catalog
8152 20 2C FE JSR MOVE
» B
= setup to Begin
8155 60 RTS
» E
= End of listing
» Character output detour
O
» anything else is error
» Print to screen and update
» and test buffer pointers
80D0 C9 BC
CMP #188
80D2 D0 08
BNE NOTLIST
8156 8A 07 OUTST STY TEMPY
o
80DA 85 lA
STA LSTFLG
8158 20 F0 FD JSR COUTl
80D6 20 0A 81
JSR OUTSET
815B A0 00 LDY #0
80D9 Ac 9D 81
JMP LISTST
815D 91 FC STA (SCRST), Y
80DC C9 2K
NOTLIST CMP #'$'
815F 20 D8 83 JSR NXTLOC
o
80DE D0 08
BNE NOTLISTl
8162 B0 03 BCS TOOLONG
80E0 85 F9
STA MEMFLG
816A AA 07 LDY TEMPY
80E2 20 0A 81
JSR OUTSET
8166 60 RTS
80E5 AC AB 8A
JMP MEMIST
» Too Long - ring bell and show last lines
80E8 C9 A3
NOTLISTl CMP #'C'
» Get keyboard to determine what to do next
80EA D0 08
BNE NOTC
8167 20 3A FF TOOLONG JSR BELL
80EC 85 ID
STA CATFLG
816A 20 83 82 JSR PRTSCRN
©
80EE 20 0A 81
JSR OUTSET
816D A0 00 LDY #0
80F1 AC 76 85
JMP CTLG
816F B9 A0 85 MSGLP LDA TOOLNG.Y
80FA C9 A2
NOTC CMP #'B'
8172 F0 06 BEQ GETREQ
80F6 D0 06
BNE NOTE
817A 20 F0 FD JSR COUTl
o
80F8 20 0A 81
JSR OUTSET
8177 C8 INY
80FB AC D0 03
JMP BASIC
8178 D0 F5 BNE MSGLP
80FE C9 A5
NOTB CMP #'E'
817A 2C 00 C0 GETREQ BIT KBD
o
8100 D0 05
BNE ERROR
817D 10 FB BPL GETREQ
8102 85 lA
STA LSTFLG
817F AD 00 C0 LDA KBD
810A Ac 2F 82
JMP ENDLST
8182 2C 10 C0 BIT KBDSTRB
8107 AC C9 DE
ERROR JMP SYNERR
8185 C9 8D CMP #$8D
o
* Detour character output,
8187 00 09 BNE ESCCHK
» TELLDOS to make DOS happy, and
» Set/test buffer pointers
8189 20 83 82 JSR PRTSCRN
810A A0 56
810C 8A 36
OUTSET LDY #< OUTST
STY CSWL
810E A0 81
LDY #> OUTST
8110 8A 37
STY CSWL+1
^FM #%■#
8112 20 EA 03
JSR TELLDOS
THmrlr
8115 A0 00
LDY #<BUFLE
lU^R
8117 8A FA
STY BUFST
l#4ulm
8119 A0 A0
LDY #> BUFLE
■ ■ Wi^m ■ m
811B 8A FB
STY BUFST+1
■ ■tf^n%#^ "^iM
811D AA lA
LDY LSTFLG
IICrCDCr aim
811F F0 09
BEQ BUFOK
UoCno f^
8121 AA B0
8123 C8
LDY $B0
INY
812A CA FB
CPY BUFST+1
8126 90 02
BCC BUFOK
HDE continues to support the TIM, AIM,
8128 8A FB
STY BUFST+1
SYM and KIM with:
» Set
up to fill buffer with carriage returns
■Mini Disk Systems
» Set
screen start and end of listing area
40/80 Track, S/D Sided
812A AA FA
BUFOK LDY BUFST
"Expansion Backplanes, RAM, ROM,
812C 8A 3C
STY AIL
Prototyping, Serial and Parallel Boards
812E 8A FC
STY SCRST
■Software
8130 C8
INY
Disk Basic, Forth, Disk Assembler,
8131 8A A2
STY AAL
Disassembler, etc.
8133 AA FB
LDY BUFST+1
8135 8A 3D
STY AlL+1
In addition to our own advanced 65XX
8137 8A A3
8139 8A FD
STY AAL+1
STY SCRST+1
development and industrial systems.
T 1 ^ 1 oaii or wnie lor our udidioy
U Ps V '^■°- ^°^ '^'^'^
813B 38
SEC
813C A9 FF
LDA #<START-1
1— 1 J J* Johnsonburg, NJ 07846
1 1 "-^^.^r (201)362-6574
813E 85 3E
STA A2L
81A0 E9 18
SBC #2A
81A2 85 FE
STA LSTEND
81AA A9 7F
LDA ¥> START-1
81A6 85 3F
STA A2L+1
81A8 E9 00
SBC n
No. 74 ■ August 1984 MIC
RO
53
•;;■■■■ -i S;;^: ;■:"■;-: siliiiilw^
818C 20 03 84
JSR SCRNPRT
8216 D0 F7
BNE LSTLOOP
818F Ac 9A 82
JMP GETCMD
8218 08
LIST9
INY
8192 C9 9B
ESCCHK
CMP #$9B
8219 Bl 9B
LDA (LOWTR),Y
819-^ D0 EA
BNE GETREQ
821B D0 33
BNE LIST13
8196 20 58 FC
JSR HOME
821D A8
TAY
©
8199 -iC D0 03
JMP BASIC
821E Bl 9B
LDA (LOWTR),Y
»
8220 AA
TAX
» Applesoft list
8221 08
INY
»
8222 Bl 9B
LDA (LOWTR),Y
©
819C 60
LRTN
RTS
8224 86 9B
STX LOWTR
819D A2 FF
LISTST
LDX #$FF
8226 85 9C
STA LOWTR+1
819F 20 Bl 00
JSR CHRGET
8228 D0 AD
BNE LIST4
O
»
822A A9 0D
LIST10
LDA #$0D
» Replacement for Applesoft LIST routine
822C 20 5C DB
iL
JSR OUTDO
81A2 90 0A
LIST
BCC LISTl
* End
of List processing
o
81AA F0 08
BEQ LISTl
»
81A6 C9 C9
CMP #$C9
822F 20 83 82
ENDLST
JSR PRTSORN
81A8 F0 0A
BEQ LISTl
8232 20 03 84
JSR SCRNPRT
SUA C9 2C
CMP #$2C
8235 20 3A FF
JSR BELL
o
81AC D0 EE
BNE LRTN
8238 A0 00
LDY #0
81AE 20 0C DA
LISTl
JSR LINGET
823A B9 EC 85
MSGLPl
LDA ENDMSG,Y
81B1 20 lA D6
JSR FNDLIN
823D F0 06
BEQ LISTEND
o
81BA 20 87 00
JSR CHRGOT
823 F 20 F0 FD
JSR COUTl
81B7 F0 10
BEQ LIST3
8242 08
INY
81B9 C9 C9
CMP #$C9
8243 D0 F5
BNE MSGLPl
81BB F0 04
BEQ LIST2
8245 40 9A 82
LISTEND
JMP GETCMD
©
81BD C9 2C
CMP #$2C
8248 08
LISTll
INY
81BF D0 DB
B^fE LRTN
8249 D0 02
BNE LIST12
81C1 20 Bl 00
LIST2
JSR CHRGET
824b E6 9E
INC DSCTMP+1
81C4 20 0C DA
JSR LINGET
824D Bl 9D
LIST12
LDA (DSCTMP),Y
©
81C7 D0 D3
BNE LRTN
824F 60
RTS
81C9 68
LIST3
PLA
8250 10 AD
LIST13
BPL LIST8
81CA 68
PLA
8252 38
SEC
©
81CB A5 50
LDA LINNUM
8253 E9 7F
SBC #$7F
81CD 05 51
ORA LINNUM+1
8255 AA
TAX
81CF D0 06
BNE LIST4
8256 84 85
STY FORPNT
81D1 A9 FF
LDA #$FF
8258 A0 D0
LDY #$D0
©
81D3 85 50
STA LINNUM
82 5 A 84 9D
STY DSCTMP
81D5 85 51
STA LINNUM+1
8250 A0 OF
LDY #$CF
81D7 A0 01
LIST4
LDY #$01
825E 84 9E
STY DSCTMP+1
81D9 Bl 9B
LDA (LOWTR),Y
8260 A0 FF
LDY #$FF
©
81DB F0 40
BEQ LIST10
8262 CA
LIST14
DEX
81DD 20 D0 84
JSR ISCNTC
8263 F0 07
BEQ LIST16
81E0 20 FB DA
JSR CRDO
8265 20 48 82
LIST15
JSR LISTll
©
81E3 C8
INY
8268 10 FB
BPL LIST15
\t^
81E4 Bl 9B
LDA (LOWTR),Y
826A 30 F6
BMI LIST14
81E6 AA
TAX
8260 A9 20
LIST 16
LDA #$20
81E7 C8
INY
826E 20 50 DB
JSR OUTDO
©
81E8 Bl 9B
LDA (LOWTR),Y
8271 20 48 82
LIST17
JSR LISTll
8IEA C5 51
CMP LINNUM+1
8274 30 05
BMI LIST18
81EC D0 04
BNE LIST5
8276 20 50 DB
JSR OUTDO
©
81EE E4 50
CPX LINNUM
8279 D0 F6
BNE LIST17
81F0 F0 02
BEQ LIST6
827B 20 50 DB
LIST18
JSR OUTDO
81F2 B0 36
LIST5
BCS LIST10
827E A9 20
LDA #$20
81F4 84 85
LIST6
STY FORPNT
8280 40 FB 81
JMP LIST7
©
81F6 20 24 ED
JSR LINPRT
»
81F9 A9 20
LDA #$20
» Set
up to print last lines of
81FB A4 85
LIST7
LDY FORPNT
» listing to screen
81FD 29 7F
AND #$7F
8283 20 BO 83
PRTSORN
JSR PGBAK
©
81FF 20 5C DB
LIST8
JSR OUTDO
8286 A5 FO
LDA SCRST
8202 A5 24
LDA CH
8288 85 FE
STA LSTEND
8204 C9 21
CMP #$21
828A A5 FD
LDA SCRST+1
o
8206 90 10
BCC LIST9
8280 85 FF
STA LSTEND+1
8208 20 FB DA
JSR CRDO
828E A9 F0
LDA #< COUTl
820B A9 05
LDA #5
8290 85 36
STA OSWL
820D 85 IB
STA COUNT
8292 A9 FD
LDA #> COUTl
©
820F A9 A0
LSTLOOP
LDA #$A0
8294 85 37
STA CSWL+1
8211 20 5C DB
JSR OUTDO
8296 20 EA 03
JSR TELLDOS
8214 C6 IB
DEC COUNT
8299 60
RTS
54
MICRO
No. 74 ■ August 1984
:;:::;.';:.:',:;::.:y|^yK;:;::
:v'-!''':v;x-;:; :-::^::^:^--"^-:-:-::-: y ■^■'%-:-'-:-:"-:''''-.':^:'.?: :■:■ ' i'^iS;^: '•:■:' ^^■^:''^i^^^-:
:■ ■■ ■■""■ -■... .■.;■■ .-:, ' y'"'': >::4' ■■■ :^/^-<^<--'X-'::^'
'■Mi'^'isM
»
8336 60
NOKEY
RTS
» Get
keyboard
command
»
; ■ ^
»
» Scroll up routine
©
829A 2C 00 C0
GETCMD
BIT KBD
*
829D 10 FB
BPL GETCMD
S337 20 D8 83
SCRLUP
JSR NXTLOC
829F AD 00 C0
LDA KBD
833A 90 09
BCC SCRLUP2
82A2 2C 10 C0
BIT KBDSTRB
833C 20 3A FF
JSR BELL
©
82A5 C9 A0
CMP #$A0
833F 60
RTS
82A7 D0 10
BNE NOTSPC
83A0 20 D8 83
SCRLUPl
JSR NXTLOC
82A9 A5 IE
LDA DIRFLG
83A3 B0 08
BCS UPRTN
82AB 30 06
BMI DOWN
83A5 20 6E 83
SCRLUP2
JSR UPOK
82AD 20 65 83
JSR UPDO
83A8 20 2D 83
JSR KBDCHK
82B0 AC 9A 82
JMP GETCMD
83AB 90 F3
BCC SCRLUPl
82B3 20 83 83
DOWN
JSR DOWNDO
83AD 60
UPRTN
RTS
©
82B6 AC 9A 82
JMP GETCMD
»
82B9 C9 88
NOTSPC
CMP #$88
» Scroll dovm routine
82BB D0 06
BNE NOTDN
»
82BD 20 AE 83
JSR SCRLDN
83AE 20 EA 83
SCRLDN
JSR LSTLOC
©
82C0 AC 9A 82
JMP GETCMD
8351 90 09
BCC SCRLDN2
82C3 C9 95
NOTDN
CMP #$95
8353 20 3A FF
JSR BELL
82C5 D0 06
BNE NOTUP
8356 60
RTS
82C7 20 37 83
JSR SCRLUP
8357 20 EA 83
SCRLDNl
JSR LSTLOC
82CA Ac 9A 82
JMP GETCMD
83 5 A B0 08
BCS DNRTN
82CD C9 9B
NOTUP
CMP #$9B
835C 20 8C 83
SCRLDN2
JSR DWNOK
82CF D0 03
BNE NOTOUT
835F 20 2D 83
JSR KBDCHK
©
82D1 AC D0 03
JMP BASIC
8362 90 F3
BCC SCRLDNl
82DA C9 AB
NOTOUT
CMP #$AB
836A 60
DNRTN
RTS
82D6 D0 06
BNE NOTAB
»
©
82D8 20 A0 83
JSR PGFWD
* Scroll up one
line
82DB AC 9A 82
JMP GETCMD
»
82DE C9 BB
NOTAB
CMP #$BB
8365 20 D8 83
UPDO
JSR NXTLOC
82E0 D0 06
BNE NOTBB
8368 90 0A
BCC UPOK
©
82E2 20 A0 83
JSR PGFWD
836A 20 3A FF
JSR BELL
82E5 AC 9A 82
JMP GETCMD
836D 60
RTS
82E8 C9 AD
NOTBB
CMP #$AD
836E A0 00
UPOK
LDY #0
82EA D0 06
BNE NOTAD
8370 8A IE
STY DIRFLG
©
82EC 20 BC 83
JSR PGBAK
8372 20 D8 83
JSR NXTLOC
82EF AC 9A 82
JMP GETCMD
8375 Bl FC
UPLOOP
LDA (SCRST ),Y
82F2 C9 BD
NOT AD
CMP #$BD
8377 C9 8D
CMP #$8D
O
82FA D0 06
BNE NOTBD
8379 F0 05
BEQ UPDONE
82F6 20 BC 83
JSR PGBAK
837B 20 D8 83
JSR NXTLOC
82F9 Ac 9A 82
JMP GETCMD
837E 90 F5
BCC UPLOOP
82FC C9 A6
NOTBD
CMP #$A6
8380 AC 03 8A
UPDONE
JMP SCRNPRT
©
82FE D0 06
BNE N0TA6
»
8300 20 2E 80
JSR HILITERl
» Scroll down one line
8303 Ac 9A 82
JMP GETCMD
»
8306 C9 C2
N0TA6
CMP #$C2
8383 20 EA 83
DOWNDO
JSR LSTLOC
8308 D0 0E
BNE N0TC2
8386 90 0A
BCC DWNOK
830A A5 FA
LDA BUFST
8388 20 3A FF
JSR BELL
830C 85 FC
STA SCRST
838B 60
RTS
©
830E A5 FB
LDA BUFST+1
838C A0 00
DWNOK
LDY #0
8310 85 FD
STA SCRST+1
838E 8A IE
STY DIRFLG
8312 20 03 8A
JSR SCRNPRT
8390 C6 IE
DEC DIRFLG
8315 AC 9A 82
JMP GETCMD
8392 Bl FC
DWNLOOP
LDA (SCRST), Y
©
8318 C9 C5
N0TC2
CMP #$C5
839A C9 8D
CMP #$8D
83 lA F0 03
BEQ C5
8396 F0 05
BEQ DWNDONE
831C AC 9A 82
JMP GETCMD
8398 20 EA 83
JSR LSTLOC
o
831F A5 FE
C5
LDA LSTEND
839B 90 F5
BCC DWNLOOP
Xi/
8321 85 FC
STA SCRST
839D AC 03 8A
DWNDONE
JMP SCRNPRT
8323 A5 FF
LDA LSTEND+1
»
8325 85 FD
STA SCRST+1
* Page
forward
©
8327 20 03 8A
JSR SCRNPRT
»
832A Ac 9A 82
JMP GETCMD
83A0 20 D8 83
PGFWD
JSR NXTLOC
*
83A3 90 0A
BCC PGFOK
o
* Look
for keypress to stop scroll
83A5 20 3A FF
JSR BELL
*
83A8 60
RTS
832D 2C 00 C0
KBDCHK
BIT KBD
83A9 A2 17
PGFOK
LDX #23
8330 10 0-^
BPL NOKEY
83AB A0 00
LDY #0
8332 2C 10 C0
BIT KBDSTRB
83AD 20 D8 83
PGFLOOP
JSR NXTLOC
8335 38
SEC
83B0 Bl FC
LDA (SCRST), Y
No. 74 - August 1984
MICRO
55
ji M ~IS:-S*s3K:*S,!S :pK?:^^
m:mMl§WlSSmBSi;Mm
K:M\M:«3MSB^'ii^^t^'^-i!Mf.
83B2 C9 8D
CMP #$8D
8A25 68
PLA
83BA D0 F7
BNE PGFLOOP
8A26 CA
DEX
©
83B6 CA
DEX
8A27 D0 IC
BNE PRNTl
83B7 D0 FA
BNE PGFLOOP
8A29 18
CLC
83B9 AC 03 8A
JMP SCRNPRT
8A2A 60
RTS
©
*
&A2B C9 8A
PRNT CMP #$8A
* Page baclcward
8A2D D0 16
BNE PRNTl
#
8A2F A5 2A
LDA CH
83BC 20 EA 83 PGBAK
JSR LSTLOC
8A31 As
PHA
©
83BF 90 0-^
BCC PGBOK
8A32 20 9C FC
JSR CLREOL
83C1 20 3A FF
JSR BELL
8 A3 5 A9 8D
LDA #$8D
83 C A 60
RTS
8A37 20 F0 FD
JSR COUTl
83 C 5 A2 17 PGBOK
LDX #23
8A3A 20 9C FC
JSR CLREOL
o
83 C7 A0 00
LDY #0
8A3D 68
PLA
83 C9 20 EA 83 PGBLOOP
JSR LSTLOC
8A3E 85 2A
STA CH
83CC Bl FC
LDA (SCRST),Y
8AA0 CA
DEX
o
83CE C9 8D
CMP #$8D
8AA1 D0 D3
BNE L00P2
83D0 D0 F7
BNE PGBLOOP
8AA3 18
CLC
83D2 CA
DEX
8AAA 60
RTS
83D3 D0 FA
BNE PGBLOOP
8AA5 20 F0 FD
PRNTl JSR COUTl
o
83D5 Ac 03 8-4
JMP SCRNPRT
8AA8 AC 16 8A
JMP L0OP2
» Increment screen pointer
* Check
for $B8 (A/S token for "DEF")
o
#
* If found, replace with "DEF" |
83D8 A5 FC ^fXTLOC
LDA SCRST
K
83DA C5 FE
CMP LSTEND
8AAB A0 FF
MEMLST LDY #$FF
83DC A5 FD
LDA SCRST+1
8AAD C8
NEXT INY
©
83DE E5 FF
SBC LSTEND+1
8AAE B9 00 02
LDA IN,Y
83E0 90 01
BCC NXTINC
8A51 F0 2F
BEQ B80K
83E2 60
RTS
8A53 C9 B8
CMP #$B8
83E3 E6 FC ^fXTINC
INC SCRST
8A55 D0 F6
BNE NEXT
©
83E5 D0 02
BNE NXTl
8A57 C8
NEXTl INY
83E7 E6 FD
INC SCRST+1
8A58 B9 00 02
LDA IN,Y
83E9 60 NXTl
RTS
8A5B D0 FA
BNE NEXTl
©
#
8A5D 99 02 02
STA IN+2,Y
* DeGrement screen pointer
8A60 99 0A 02
STA IN+A,Y
*
8A63 88
NEXT2 DEY
83EA A5 FA LSTLOC
LDA BUFST
8A6A B9 00 02
LDA IN,Y
©
83EC C5 FC
CMP SCRST
8A67 99 02 02
STA IN+2,Y
83EE A5 FB
LDA BUFST+1
8A6A C9 B8
CMP lf$B8
83F0 E5 FD
SBC SCRST+1
8A6C D0 F5
BNE NEXT2
83F2 90 01
BCC LSTDEC
8A6E A9 AA
LDA #$AA
©
83 FA 60
RTS
8A70 99 00 02
STA IN,Y
83F5 C6 FC LSTDEC
DEC SCRST
8A73 C8
INY
83 F7 kA FC
LDY SCRST
8A7A A9 A5
LDA #$A5
©
83 F9 C0 FF
CPY #$FF
8A76 99 00 02
STA IN,Y
83FB 00 02
BNE LSTRTN
8A79 C8
INY
83FD C6 FD
DEC SCRST+1
8A7A A9 A6
LDA #$A6
83 FF 18 LSTRTN
CLC
8A7C 99 00 02
STA IN,Y
©
8A00 A0 00
LDY m
8A7F Ac AB 8A
JMP MEMLST
8A02 60
RTS
8A82 A0 FF
B80K LDY (CIFF
#
8A8A C8
BACK INY
©
* Screen print routine
8A85 20 Bl 00
JSR CHRGET
#
8A88 F0 02
BEQ DONE
8A03 A5 FC SCRNPRT
LDA SCRST
8A8A 09 80
ORA #$80
8A05 85 3C
STA AIL
8A8C 99 00 02
DONE STA IN,Y
©
8A07 A 5 FD
LDA SCRST+1
8A8F D0 F3
BNE BACK
8A09 85 3D
STA AlL+1
8A91 20 C7 FF
JSR ZMODE
8A0B A9 00
LDA #0
8A9A 20 A7 FF
JSR GETNUM
8A0D 85 2A
STA CH
8A97 C9 A7
CMP #$A7
©
8A0F 85 25
STA CV
8A99 D0 0B
BNE N0TA7
SAll 20 22 FC
JSR VTAB
8A9B 85 31
STA MODE
8AlA A2 18
LDX #2A
8A9D 20 A7 FF
JSR GETNUM
©
8Al6 A0 00 L00P2
LDY #0
8AA0 20 F2 8A
JSR DUMP
8A18 20 BA FC
JSR NXTAl
8AA3 Ac 2F 82
JMP ENDLST
8A13 Bl 3C
LDA (A1L),Y
8AA6 C9 39
N0TA7 CMP #$39
8AlD C9 8D
CMP #$8D
8AA8 F0 0A
BEQ DISASM
©
8AlF D0 0A
BNE PRNT
8AAA C9 05
CMP #105
8A21 A8
PHA
8AAC F0 06
BEQ DISASM
8A22 20 9C FC
JSR CLREOL
8AAE C9 01
CMP #$01
56
MICRO
No. 74 - August 1984
v-isMiiV: ■«■ •!• MJS'S; :;■; :■■;•: 3;.! ::;. : ^i'AM/v: ■ « ? V^ b-'j : ?: A ' ■:■■!;■•:; ■■'■; ■: ; !.;■;■•■!:;■:;.?:;
8460 D0 IB BNE SNTX
8534 4C FC 84
JMP FIXA3
8432 85 IC STA PLUSFLG
8537 A9 A0
ASCOUT
LDA #$A0
843-; A5 3E DISASM IDA A2L
8539 20 ED FD
JSR COUT
o
8436 85 3A STA PCL
853C A9 IE
LDA #$1E
8438 A5 3F IDA A2L+1
853E C5 24
CMP $24
8-;3A 85 33 STA PCL+1
8540 B0 EF
BCS ASCOUT
o
8430 A9 00 IDA m
8542 A0 00
LDY #$00
8';3E 20 DD 84 JSR MONLIST
8544 A9 07
LDA #$07
84c 1 A 5 IC IDA PLUSFLG
8546 25 40
AND A3L
84C3 F0 05 3EQ NEXT3
8548 49 FF
EOR #$FF
©
84c 5 A9 00 LDA #0
854A 18
CLC
84C7 20 DD 84 JSR MONLIST
854B 69 08
ADC #$08
84CA 4C 2F 82 NEXT3 JMP ENDLST
854D 48
GETNXT
PHA
Q
84CD 4C C9 DE SNTX JMP SYNERR
854E Bl 40
LDA (A3L),Y
K
8550 29 7F
AND #$7F
» Replacement for A/S cntrl-C check
8552 C9 20
CMP #$20
»
8554 90 FE
BCC SPCOUT
Q
84D0 AD 00 C0 ISCNTC LDA KBD
8556 09 80
ORA #$80
84D3 C9 83 CMP #$83
8558 D0 FC
BNE PRINT
84D5 D0 05 BNE CNTCRTN
855A A9 A0
SPCOUT
LDA #$A0
©
84D7 68 PLA
85 5C 20 ED FD
PRINT
JSR COUT
84D8 68 PLA
855F A5 40
LDA A3L
84D9 4C 2F 82 JMP ENDLST
8561 C5 3E
CMP A2L
84DC 60 CNTCRTN RTS
8563 A5 41
LDA A3L+1
K
8565 E5 3F
SBC A2L+1
» Replacement for monitor LIST2 routine
8567 E6 40
INC A3L
*
8569 D0 FC
BNE INCENO
84DD 48 MONLIST PHA
856B E6 41
INC A3L+1
O
84DE 20 D0 F8 JSR INSTDSP
856D 68
INCEND
PLA
84E1 20 53 F9 JSR PCADJ
856E B0 FF
BCS OMPEND
84E4 85 3A STA PCL
8570 38
SEC
o
84E6 84 33 STY PCL+1
8571 E9 01
SBC #$01
84E8 20 D0 84 JSR ISCNTC
8573 10 D2
BPL GETNXT
84EB 68 PLA
8575 60
OMPEND
RTS
84EC 38 SEC
»
©
84ED E9 01 SBC #1
* Catalog list
routine
84EF D0 E6 BNE MONLIST
»
84F1 60 RTS
8576 20 Bl 00
CTLG
JSR CHRGET
»
8579 F0 05
BEQ OEFDRV
o
» Replacement for monitor XAM routine
857B C9 31
CMP #$31
»
857D F0 FE
BEQ PUTDRV
84F2 20 C7 FF DUMP JSR ZMODE
857F C9 32
CMP #$32
©
84F5 88 DEY
8581 D0 14
BNE SNTXl
84F6 D0 04 BNE FIXA3
8583 8D 68 AA
PUTDRV
STA $AA68
84F8 A5 3C LDA AIL
8586 AD 3-4 AE
DEFDRV
LDA $AE34
84FA 09 07 ORA #$07
8589 85 ID
STA CATFLG
©
84FC 85 3E STA A2L
858B A9 60
LDA #$60
84FE A5 3D LDA AlL+1
858D 8D 34 AE
STA $AE34
8500 85 3F STA A2L+1
8590 A9 06
LDA #06
©
8502 A4 3D FIXA3 LDY AlL+1
8592 20 AA A2
JSR $A2AA
8504 A6 3C LDX AIL
8595 A5 ID
LDA CATFLG
8506 86 40 STX A3L
8597 8D 34 AE
STA $AE34
8508 84 41 STY A3L+1
859A 4C 2F 82
JMP ENDLST
o
850A 20 CA 84 JSR ISCNTC
859D 4C C9 DE
SNTXl
JMP SYNERR
850D A9 8D LDA #$8D
K
850F 20 ED FD JSR COUT
» Screen messages follow
8512 20 40 F9 JSR PRNTYX
»
o
8515 A0 00 LDY #$00
85A0 8D 80
TOOLNG
HEX 8080
8517 A9 AD LDA #$AD
85A2 00 02 CF
ASC "PROGRAM TOO LONG
8519 20 ED FD JSR COUT
TO FIT IN BUFFER."
o
85 IC A9 A0 HEXOUT LDA #$A0
85 C4 80 8D
HEX 8D8D
851E 20 ED FD JSR COUT
85C6 00 02 C5
ASC "PRESS <RETURN> TO
8521 Bl 3C LDA (A1L),Y
LIST, <ESC> TO EXIT'
8523 20 DA FD JSR PRBYTE
85EB 00
HEX 00
o
8526 20 3A FC JSR NXTAl
»
8529 B0 06 3CS ASCOUT
85EC 8D 8D
ENDMSG
HEX 8080
852B A5 3C LDA AIL
85EE A0 A0 A0
ASC " »»» LISTING
852D 29 07 AND #$07
COMPLETED ***"
©
852F 00 E5 BNE HEXOUT
860E 80 00
HEX 8000
8531 20 31 85 JSR ASCOUT
END
No. 74- August 1984
MICRO
57
In last month's issue we ptinted the
second of three programs that allowed
you to easily access various defined
fvmctions. This saved aggravation and
time when working with complicated
mathematical formulas. We present, as
a continuation of this, the third
program which will put even more
valuable formulas and functions at
your fingertips. Again, we invite you
to send in any defined functions you
may be using that are not mentioned.
The submissions we receive will be
published in a future issue.
I i n i i n i i n r j n r I i n i i n i i n i i n . 1
Save time and aggrevation with a collection of
defined functions.
I i rn i i n i i n i i n r i n i i n i i n r i n i i
Part 3 by
Paul Garrison
©
®
©
©
REM LESSER OF A AND B
REM GREATER OF A AND B
1 REM FUNCTIONS (DELETE THOSE NOT USED IN A PROGRAM)
2 PI=3. 14159
3 RAD=57.2958
A DEF FNL(A,B)=-(A<=B)»A-(B<A)»B:
5 DEF FNG(A,B)=-(A>=B)»A-(B>A)»B:
6 DEF FNAV(A,B)=(A+B)/2:REM AVERAGE OF A AND B
7 DEF FNDX(A,X)=INT(A»X+.5)/X:REM LIMIT TO X DECIMALS
8 DEF FNPRX(RHO,THETA)=RHO»SIN(THETA/RAD):REM P TO R, FINDS X
9 DEF FNPRY(RHO,THETA)=RHO»COS(THETA/RAD):REM P TO R, FINDS Y
10 DEF FNRPR(X,Y)=SQR(Xt2+Yt2):REM R TO P, FINDS RHO
11 DEF FNRPT(X,Y)=-(X=0 AND Y< 0)»180-(X> 0)»(90-RAD»ATN(Y/X))-(X< 0)»(270-RAD»ATN(Y/X))
12 REM R TO P, FINDS THETA
13 DEF FNSSS(A,B,C)=RAD»2»ATN(SQR(((A+B+C)/2-A)»((A+B+C)/2-B)»((A+B+C)/2-C)»2/(A+B+C))/((A+B+C)/2-A)
lA REM FINDS ANGLE OPPOSITE SIDE A, GIVEN. 3 SIDES OF A TRIANGLE
15 DEF FNR0OT(X,Z)=Xt(l/Z):REM Z-ROOT OF X
35 DEF FNREC(A)=1/A:&REM RECIPROCAL OF A
36 DEF FNDEG(A)=A*(PI/180):REM DEGREES TO RADIANS
37 DEF FNRAD(A)=A/(PI/180):REM RADIANS TO DEGREES
38 DEF FNV0LC(S)=St3:!tREM VOLUME OF A CUBE
39 DEF FNVOLR(L,W,H)=L»W»H:REM VOLUME OF BOX
A0 DEF FNVOLS(R)=4/3*PI*Rf3:REM VOLUME OF A SPHERE
Al DEF FNV0LP(B,H)=B»H/3:!REM VOLUME OF A PYRAMID
A2 DEF FNV0LL(R,H)=PI»Rt2»H:REM VOLUME OF A CYLINDER
A3 DEF FNSURC(S)=6»(S»S):,REM SURFACE OF A CUBE
AA DEF FNSURR(L,W,H)=2»(L»W)+2»(L»H)+2»(W»H): REM SURFACE OF A BOX
A5 DEF FNSURS(R)=A»PI»Rt2: REM SURFACE OF A SPHERE
46 DEF FNSURL(R,H)=2*PI*Rf2+2*PI*R*H:REM SURFACE OF A CYLINDER
100 REM (PROGRAM TITLE, AUTHOR)
110 REM (TYPE OF BASIC USED)
120 GOTO 180
130 ?" ": RETURN
140 HOME :VTAB( 10): RETURN
150 ?: INPUT "Press >RETURN<(Q to quit)",R$
58
MICRO
No. 74- August 1984
©
©
155 IF R$="Q" THEN 160 ELSE RETURN
160 GOSUB U0:GOSUB 130: ?TAB (33) "End. ":GOSUB 130:END ^
180 GOSUB 1-^0: GOTO 2000
190 REM TESTING FUNCTIONS
200 ?"Find the lesser of two numbers "-.GOSUB 130
210 INPUT "Enter any two numbers", A, B ©
220 X=FNL(A,B): GOSUB 130
23ii PRINT "The lesser number is ";X: GOSUB 150: GOTO 2000
2'i0 ?"Find the greater of two numbers": GOSUB 130
250 INPUT "Enter any two numbers", A, B ^
260 X=FNG(A,B):GOSUB 130
270 PRINT "The greater number is ",X: GOSUB 150: GOTO 2000
280 ?"Find the average of two numbers": GOSUB 130 Q
290 INPUT "Enter any two numbers", A, B
300 X=FNAV(A,B):GOSUB 130
310 PRINT "The average of the two numbers is ",X: GOSUB 150: GOTO 2000
320 ? "Round number to X decimals": GOSUB 130
33^2 INPUT "Enter a number with many decimals", A
3A0 PRINT "Enter 10, 100, 1000 etc. to limit the number of decimals"
3-45 INPUT "to the number of zeros ",LD
350 X=FNDX(A,LD):GOSUB 130
360 PRINT "The rounded-off number is ";X: GOSUB 150: GOTO 2000
370 ? "Polar to rectangular conversion, find X":GOSUB 130
380 INPUT "Diagonal length (rho)",RHO
390 INPUT "Angle to vertical line",THETA
400 X=FNPRX(RHO,THETA): GOSUB 130
-^10 PRINT "The horizontal length (X) is";X:GOSUB 150:GOTO 2000
-420 ? "Polar to rectangular conversion, find Y":GOSUB 130
430 INPUT "Diagonal length (rho)",RHO
440 INPUT "Angle to vertical line (theta) ",THETA
450 X=FNPRY(RHO, THETA): GOSUB 130 Q
460 PRINT "The vertical length (Y) iS";X:GOSUB 150:GOTO 2000
470 ? "Rectangular to polar conversion, find hypotenuse (rho)":GOSUB 130
480 INPUT "Horizontal length (X)",X
490 INPUT "Vertical length (Y)",Y O
500 XX-FNRPR(X,Y):GOSUB 130
510 PRINT "The hypotenuse (rho) is";XX:GOSUB 150:GOTO 2000
520 ? "Rectangular to polar conversion, find angle (theta) ": GOSUB 130 ^
530 INPUT "Horizontal length (X) ",X ^
540 INPUT "Vertical length (Y)",Y
550 XX=FNRPT(X,Y):GOSUB 130
560 PRINT "The angle (theta) is"; XX: GOSUB 150: GOTO 2000 Q
570 ?"Find the angle opposite side X using 3 sides of a triangle ": GOSUB 130
580 INPUT "Horizontal length (X) ",A
590 INPUT "Vertical length (Y)",B
600 INPUT "Diagonal length (hypotenuse) ",C O
610 X=FNSSS(A,B,C):GOSUB 130
620 PRINT "The angle opposite X is";X:Y=90-X
630 PRINT "The angle opposite Y is ";Y: GOSUB 150: GOTO 2000 -.
640 ?"Find the X root of a number":GOSUB 130
650 INPUT "Enter any number ",X
660 INPUT "Enter root number ",R
670 XX=FNROOT(X,R):GOSUB 130 O
680 PRINT "The ";R; " root of ";X; " is";XX:GOSUB 150:GOTO 2000
1450 ?"Find the reciprocal of a number":GOSUB 130
1460 INPUT "Enter any number", A _
1470 X=FNREC(A):GOSUB 130 ^
1480 PRINT "The reciprocal of ";A;" is";X:GOSUB 150:GOTO 2000
1490 ? "Convert degrees to radians": GOSUB 130
1500 INPUT "Enter number of degrees", A q
1510 X=FNDEG(A):GOSUB 130
1520 PRINT A;" degrees equal ";X; " radians": GOSUB 150:GOTO 2000
1530 ? "Convert radians to degrees": GOSUB 130
1540 INPUT "Enter number of radians", A O
1550 X=FNRAD(A):GOSUB 130
1560 ?A; " radians equal ";X; " degrees": GOSUB 150:GOTO 2000
1570 ?"Find the volume of a cube":GOSUB 130 _
1580 INPUT "Enter length of one side", A ^
1590 X=FNVOLC(A):GOSUB 130
1600 PRINT "The volume of the cube is ";X; " cubic measures": GOSUB 150:GOTO 2000
No. 74 -August 1984 MICRO 59
o
o
1610 ?"Find the volume of a rectangular box":GOSUB 130
1620 INPUT "Enter width of box",W
1630 INPUT "Enter length of box",L
I6'i0 INPUT "Enter depth of box",H
1650 X=FNVOLR(W,L,H):GOSUB 130
1660 ?"The volume of the box is ";X; " cubic measures ":GOSUB 150:GOTO 2000
1670 ?"Find the volume of a sphere ":GOSUB 130
1680 INPUT "Enter the radius ",R
1690 X=FNVOLS(R):GOSUB 130
1700 ?"The volume of the sphere is ";X; " cubic measures ":GOSUB 150:GOTO 2000
1710 ?"Find the volume of a pyramid ":GOSUB 130
1720 INPUT "Enter base area in square measures ",B
1730 INPUT "Enter height of the pyramid ",H
17'i0 X=FNVOLP(B,H):GOSUB 130
1750 ?"The volume of the pyramid is ";X; " cubic measures ":GOSUB 150:GOTO 2000
1760 ?"Find the volume of a cylinder":GOSUB 130
1770 INPUT "Enter radius ",R
1780 INPUT "Enter length of the cylinder ",H
1790 X=FNVOLL(R,H):GOSUB 130
1800 ?"The volume of the cylinder is ";X;" cubic measures ":GOSUB 150: GOTO 2000
1810 ?"Find the surface area of a cube":GOSUB 130
1820 INPUT "Enter length of one side",S
1830 X=FNSURC(S):GOSUB 130
18-^0 ?"The surface area of the cube is ";X;" square measures ": GOSUB 150:GOTO 2000
1850 ?"Find the surface area of a rectangular box":GOSUB 130
1860 INPUT "Enter the width of the box",W
1870 INPUT "Enter the length of the box",L
1880 INPUT "Enter the depth of the box",H
1890 X=FNSURR(W,L,H):GOSUB 130
1900 ?"The surface area of the box is ";X; " square measures": GOSUB 150:GOTO 2000
1910 ?"Find the surface area of a sphere": GOSUB 130
1920 INPUT "Enter the radius ",R
1930 X=FNSURS(R): GOSUB 130
19-40 ?"The surface area of the sphere is ";X; " square measures": GOSUB 150:GOTO
1950 ?"Find the surface area of a cylinder": GOSUB 130
1960 INPUT "Enter the radius ",R
1970 INPUT "Enter the length of the cylinder", H
1980 X=FNSURL(R,H): GOSUB 130
1990 ?"The surface area of the cylinder is ";X; " square measures": GOSUB 150:GOTO 2000
2000 GOSUB l';0:? "Menu:": GOSUB 130
2010 ?1, "Lesser of two numbers"
O 2020 ?2, "Greater of two numbers"
2030 ?3, "Average of two numbers"
20'i0 T-i, "Limit number of decimals"
2050 ?5, "Polar to rectangular, find horizontal length"
O 2060 ?6, "Polar to rectangular, find vertical length"
2070 ?7, "Rectangular to polar, find diagonal length"
2080 ?8, "Rectangular to polar, find angle"
^ 2085 ?9, "Angles opposite two sides"
2090 ?10,"Root of a number"
2100 ?11, "Reciprocal numbers"
2110 ?12, "Convert degrees to radians": GOSUB 130
O 2111 ?"To choose one of the above, press > RETURN < "
2112 INPUT "To see other choices, press > Y < ",Z$
2113 IF Z$="Y" THEN 2120 ELSE GOSUB 130: GOTO 2230
2120 GOSUB U0:? 13, "Convert radians to degrees"
O 2130 ?l'i, "Volume of a cube"
21'i0 ?15, "Volume of a rectangular box"
2150 ?16, "Volume of a sphere"
Q 2160 ?17, "Volume of a pyramid"
2170 ?18, "Volume of a cylinder"
2180 ?19, "Surface area of a cube"
2190 ?20, "Surface area of a rectangular box"
O 2200 ?21, "Surface area of a sphere"
2210 ?22, "Surface area of a cylinder": GOSUB 130
2220 ?23,"Exit program": GOSUB 130
2230 INPUT "Which?", WHICH: GOSUB l';0
22';0 ON WHICH GOTO 200,2';0,280,320,370,'i20,';70,520,570,6';0,l';50,l'i90,1530>1570,
1610 , 1670 , 1710 , 1760 , 1810 , 1850 , 1910 ,1950 , 160
iMCftO
60 MICRO No. 74 ■ August 1984
coca
^
o o o
Spread Sheets & Daia commnnicalions
-oo o
by Jo/in Steiner
This month we will take a look at a newly released spread
sheet program and also look at data communications for
the Color Computer. Both of these applications are very
popular among CoCo users, and they probably constitute
most of my time on the computer.
Spread Sheets
One of the most popular classes of software for the
microcomputer is the spread sheet. These useful programs
have sold more microcomputers than any other type of
software because of their versatility and usefulness. The
CoCo user was not to be left out.
The first program available was Spectaculator by Radio
Shack, which has many of the features of a spread sheet,
but is missing quite a few of the more useful ones. C.C.
Calc came along, and the first true CoCo spread sheet was
available. The program, written in BASIC, has a relatively
small sheet size and slow calculation speed, but many of
the unique spread sheet features are there. Elite Calc was
introduced at the April '83 Rainbowfest, and became the
CoCo users first full fledged machine language spread
sheet program. Though Elite Calc has its flaws, until
recently it has been the only full sized spread sheet
available for standard CoCo's. (Flex users have Dynacalc
available. Though I have never seen it operate, the ads
convey that it is indeed a full power spread sheet program.)
[Editor's Note: We use Dynacalc all of the time at MICRO for a
very wide range of functions. It works very well]
VIP Calc
Softlaw, Inc. [Formerly Nelson Software Systems) has
finally released VIP Calc. It's been a long wait (I remember
asking for it at their booth at the April '83 Rainbowfest),
but it was worth it. The powerful program is modeled after
the granddaddy of all spread sheet programs, Visicalc.
CoCo users who also have access to Visicalc on other
systems will have no trouble becoming accustomed to VIP
Calc.
There are improvements upon the original Visicalc,
including sorting and setting individual column widths.
Minor modifications have been made to take advantage of
the particular hardware and keyboard features of the
CoCo, however, so there are some differences in the
command structure from the original Visicalc. Up to 16
display windows can be set to compare information. A
bank switching technique allows up to 33K of spread sheet
in a 64K computer. Up to fifteen digit precision can be
selected, and trig functions have been included. One of
the most useful features is a LOCATE command that can
search a sheet for a specified formula or text entry.
A unique marketing strategy by Softlaw has eliminated
the tape to disk version upgrade problem. VIP Calc, and
many of their other programs include both tape and disk
versions of the software. The "Combo" packaging is a
nice feature.
VIP Calc's screen display is high resolution and the
user can select between 32, 51, 64 or 85 characters per
line. This makes for the largest Calc screen display for
t h e
CoCo yet. The nice display comes at a price, though.
Choosing a high resolution display causes the loss of about
eight thousand bytes of available spread sheet memory. In
addition, it slows down the program because of the length
of time it takes to write the screen display. An 8K display
will take a lot longer to write than the standard 512 byte
CoCo screen.
In fact, speed (or lack of it) is probably VIP Calc's major
deficiency. After using Elite Calc, which is very fast in
calculation and display, VIP Calc seems to move like a
turtle. It is helpful to turn off the automatic calculation
mode when you are doing data entry, then use the !
command to recalculate after the data are entered. If you
choose the 32 character screen display, you will find that
screen display update is much faster, as well. However,
the speed problem is a relative thing and, if I had not run
other spread sheet programs, I probably never would have
made any comments about it. You get used to it.
One of the slowest spread sheet programs I have ever
seen is MicroPro's Calc Star, which can take upwards of 45
seconds to recalculate a medium size sheet. I use Calc Star
for much of my business work, however, and find that the
recalculation time is not of any real significance. The
other advantages of using Calc Star outweigh the speed
problem. VIP Calc is nowhere near that slow in calculating
and displaying data, and it is a lot more powerful. I may
end up changing to VIP for my company work.
One other disadvantage of VIP Calc for 32K only users
is that some features were left out to conserve memory.
Locate, Edit and the high resolution graphics screens are
not available to 32K systems. This should give you enough
incentive to make the jump to modify your system to 64K.
VIP Calc will not run in a 16K computer.
I really enjoy using a spread sheet program for creation
of numeric and even text data files. So many things can be
done easily on a spread sheet that would take hours of
programming time if you were to try to write a BASIC
program to do the same thing. If you haven't had the
opportunity to look into what a spread sheet can do for
you, check it out. You might find that it can be a help in
your daily work. For more details, and a simple program to
introduce you to spread sheets, check out issue number 67
No. 74 ■ August 1984
MICRO
61
of Micro, December 1983. That issue was devoted to the
spread sheet, and includes "MicroCalc", a spread sheet
program for the CoCo.
CoCo Communications
The Color Computer makes a great Videotex terminal, as
many people have already found out. Terminal software
is inexpensive, and Modems are becoming much more
reasonable in price. Two useful, yet inexpensive Modems
that work well with the CoCo are the Mura MM-100, and
the Anchor Automation Volksmodem.The Mura retails
for $99.95, while the Volksmodem retails for $79.95. I
have seen them both advertised for less in mail order ads.
The biggest problem is in configuring a cable that
works with them. The CoCo has only four of the 25
standard RS-232 lines. The Mura modem has a 25 pin
standard connector, while the Volksmodem has a five pin
DIN connector.
When connecting these, or any modem for that matter,
there are really only four required lines for an RS-232 port.
They are TXD [transmit data), RCD (received data], GND
(ground], and CD (carrier detect). The CoCo RS-232 port
contains all these lines and, to work with any modem,
they must be connected properly to the same lines on the
modem connector.
One concept that has caused confusion in the past is
the connection of RCD and TXD. Many people would
make the assumption that RCD on the modem should be
connected to RCD on the computer, and TXD would be
connected likewise.
The connections won't work that way, however, since
modems are usually wired as data sets, and computers are
wired as data terminals. The difference this causes makes
sense, though, so connection is made by putting the RCD
line on the modem to the TXD line on the terminal.
Similarly, the TXD line on the modem goes to the RCD
line on the terminal. All other lines connect directly from
the modem to the terminal.
Computer communications is an interesting aspect of
the microcomputing hobby, and is becoming more and
more useful in the world of business. The Dakota
Database Bulletin Board System that I have been running
since July of 1983 is still going strong, and over 3700 calls
have been made to the system since it has been on line.
Last month we added an upgraded software package,
and the BBS is more sophisticated in its message handling,
uploading and downloading of programs and files, and
general system operation. If you have a modem package,
give the Dakota Database a call at 701-281-0233. It is
online 24 hours a day, except for occasional periods of
updating, and contains several Color Computer programs
that you may download at no charge. I'll be looking for
your message on the BBS.
And, faiewell. MICRO has decided to discontinue
miciocomputei specific columns in favoi of topic specific
columns, so this is the last time CoCo Bits will appeal.
I wish to thank all of you who have lesponded to this
column foi youi comments, advice and general support.
You may see me again soon in MICRO with a column on
Telecommunications.
JMCR0
ccmfia^
by Loren Wright
Report on TPUG Conference
A lot happened at the 3rd Annual Toronto PET Users
Group Conference. Brad Templeton, author of the utility
package POWER and the assembler PAL, demonstrated a
program development system that won't let the user make
a programming mistake. For instance, in Pascal if you
decide to write a PROCEDURE, the system will
automatically provide the ENDPROC statement and
prompt you for variable declarations, parameter lists, and
such. Jim Strasma, Editor of The Midnight Gazette and
Contributing Editor for MICRO, spoke on what to look
for, and what to avoid,, in commercial software. He
emphasized selecting where you buy a product and
evaluating product warranties.
Featured at the Saturday night banquet were VIC-based
"Randy" robots, "Uses for a Dead Computer" by
Transactor Editor Karl Hildon, and reminisces from TPUG
founders Jim Butterfield and Lyman Duggan.
What About the 264?
Jim Butterfield and Jim Strasma had a lively discussion on
the merits of Commodore's newly announced 264
Computer. As if on cue, someone showed up with a
264 — straight from Commodore Canada. Butterfield
soon had it hooked up and running. Surprisingly, the 264
is even smaller than the C-64. It has arrow-shaped cursor
control keys arranged in a diamond pattern. There are
three differences obvious just from the power-up message.
First, there are over 60K bytes available for BASIC.
Second, the BASIC is version 3.5. Third, a message
appeared that said: "SUPERSCRIPT on key 1". When Jim
pressed function key 1, the word processor appeared
instantly — a demonstration of the 264's built-in
software capability. Another function key read and
displayed the disk directory. The eight function keys can
each be assigned with a simple statement.
The 264 uses a processor called the 1701. Contrary to
what I said in a previous column, this is a member of the
6502 family and uses the same mnemonics. It still has
only a 64K address space, but due to a more sophisticated
architecture, is able to keep most of its operating system
"floating."
The BASIC is more powerful, including convenient
disk commands, graphics and sound statements (instead of
POKEs), and structured programming statements. There is
also a built-in, extended, machine-language monitor,
and — first time for Commodore since the KIM — a
reset button!
On the minus side, there is no numeric keypad,
cassette capability is gone, the sound is primitive
[compared to the C-64), and there are no sprites. There
should be 80 columns for a "productivity" machine.
There are 16 different colors in 8 different luminances.
Commodore's emphasis in marketing the 264 will be
"productivity," and, it's true, this machine is a lot easier
to operate. My work would definitely go faster. Having a
structuring capability available on power-up is a real treat.
Also, the built-in extended monitor and reset button can
relieve a lot of frustration in assembly language program
development.
62
MICRO
No. 74 - August 1984
Despite all the productivity-oriented features, the
actual hardware is a little disappointing. This machine
seems to be aimed somewhere in between the IBM/IBM
Clone market and the low-end market. Butterfield, going
along with the productivity emphasis, thinks there's a
place for the 264, but Strasma thinks it may be a case of
"too little, too late". Due to its limitations in graphics
and sound, there may not be much recreational software
for it. I suspect the C-64 will still be alive and well a year
from now. It appears that the 264 will really be introduced,
but certainly not while the C-64 is doing so well. It doesn't
really compare with the C-64, but will people be able to
tell? The pricing is still uncertain ($500?), and there may
be some changes before it comes out. A numeric keypad
and 80-column word processing would sure help
productivity!
COMAL for the Commodore 64
I recently purchased a COMAL disk from the COMAL
Users Group and did a little playing with the graphics
commands. I had reviewed a previous version of COMAL
for the PET and saw some promise there. It is a structured
language, yet without the picky syntax requirements of
Pascal. It has most BASIC commands, as well as
REPEAT... UNTIL, WHILE... ENDWHILE, FOR.. .NEXT,
IF. .THEN... ELSE. ..ELIF...ENDIF, and a good CASE
structure. Like BASIC, it is easy to program because you
don't have to deal with an editor, compiler, and P-code
interpreter to get your program to run. All you have to do
is edit the program and RUN it. This is particularly
important in a learning situation. There were problems
with the PET version I saw, such as a "split" interpreter,
and a few minor bugs. Also, since the PET had its ROMs
hard-wired in, COMAL had to be loaded on top of BASIC,
taking up most of the valuable RAM. When I began seeing
ads for the C-64 version, my interest was rekindled. I
knew the architecture of the C-64 would be better suited
to a COMAL implementation.
COMAL has been around for quite a while, but it has
received little attention in the U.S. In Europe it has a
strong following. It is the official teaching language in
Denmark, Ireland, Sweden, and Norway, and will be soon
in other countries. It was designed by Borge Christensen as
a combination of the "best of Pascal and BASIC." The
C-64 version boasts a built-in turtle graphics system, so its
promoters now add Logo to their "best of" list.
COMAL works much the same as BASIC, in that you
can execute commands in the immediate mode, and you
can test each procedure or function as you write it.
However, it actually is a little more complicated. The
system makes three passes through a program. Syntax
errors are detected as you enter each line. Then, when you
RUN the program, two more passes are made. It sounds
complicated and time consuming, but overall COMAL
averages out to about three times faster than BASIC. For
string manipulations, COMAL is much faster than that.
The string functions are simpler, but more powerful, than
those of Microsoft BASIC. For instance, you can assign a
substring — not allowed in BASIC.
The graphics commands are very convenient and they
work on either hi-res or multicolor bit-map screens. There
is very little required to set up a bit map screen since the
system is designed to operate in bank 3, the $C0OO block
and the RAM under the I/O area and Kernal ROMs. All the
memory manipulation is taken care of automatically.
There's also a whole set of sprite commands, but these are
designed to work with a bit map screen. I was able to get a
few sprites to work in bank with ROM characters. There
doesn't seem to be any easy way to use programmed
characters, although it is possible. Part of the problem is
that there isn't any published memory map or other
documentation of COMAL's inner workings, although
these are in the works. Another problem is that there is
less memory available for machine language programs.
One promising feature is that position-independent
routines can be programmed as strings, a technique
popular with advanced Atari programmers.
At the TPUG Conference, I met Len Lindsay, who runs
COMAL Users Group, U.S.A., Ltd. (5501 Groveland
Terrace, Madison, WI 53716). The users group owns the
copyright to the disk version and distributes copies for
$19.95. He does allow individuals to freely copy the
system disk, as long as they don't make any changes and
don't make any money off it. Even large users groups may
distribute copies, but they must check first with Len. Len
is the major proponent of COMAL in the US, and he has
been with it since nearly the beginning. He was founder of
The PET Gazette (the most successful of several
newsletters and magazines that were combined to form
COMPUTE!), and is working to get COMAL established
as a major force in the U.S. With a little help from
enthusiastic users and a computer company or two,
COMAL will take over even faster.
Support for COMAL is growing. The COMAL Users
Group publishes a regular newletter called COMAL Today
($15/year), and an applications tutorial book series
Captain COMAL ($19.95 with disk for each book). In
addition, there is a reference book, the COMAL Handbook
by Len Lindsay ($18.95), and a number of books from
European publishers. All of these, including the European
books, are available from the COMAL Users Group, and
many are available in computer and book stores.
A Better COMAL — How long will Commodore sit
on it?
There is a better COMAL, but it is not available.
Commodore owns it, and is taking its time with producing
it. The disk-based COMAL reviewed above only leaves
you with lOK free for your program (equivalent to 16K in
BASIC terms). The new, cartridge-based COMAL will
leave over 30K free, as well as add many new features and
commands. One feature I have heard described is a multi-
level error- trapping system. Although I don't know for
sure, there should be a little more flexibility added to
graphics programming. Len Lindsay, and a few others,
have seen this new version, and are very impressed.
Like other companies. Commodore has limited
manufacturing facilities, and the ROM burners required to
make cartridges are particularly in demand for things like
hot-selling games. For Commodore, it's a matter of
juggling priorities and demands. Look for the COMAL
cartridge in late summer or fall. In the meantime, you can
buy the disk version, and learn all about the language. It
will take a while to exhaust the lOK limit. Then keep up
the pressure on dealers, so they can keep pressure on
Commodore. It might work! «.,-^^.
AlCftO
No. 74 - August 1984
MICRO
63
Subscribe to MICRO...
Save 20% and we'll send you a
BONUS GIFT
with your subscription!
Receive a coupon good for
one MicroDisk of your choice.
A $15.00 Value — FREE!
Each Disk contains a variety of programs
from Micro, all entered and ready to run on
your machine. Saves time, avoids errors.
This offer expires October 31, 1984
Fill out the attached
card and mail today!
Each diskette includes all of the programs in BASIC and/or
Assembly Source, plus binary 'load-and-go' files. The price of
only $15.00 includes shipping and handling.
64
MICRO
No. 74 ■ August 1984
617/256-3649
Expires Oct. 31, 1984
(MasterCard and VISA Accepted)
iMCRXi
□ YES! Enter my subscription to MICRO for jus
$24.00 per year and send me a BONUS GIFT
COUPON for one free MicroDisk.
□ Renew my subscription to MICRO for just $24.00
and send me a BONUS GIFT COUPON for one free
MicroDisk.
My mailing label number is MC
Name
Address.
City
.State.
.Zip_
lAiiow 6-8 weeks lor delivery) BoHus Coupon Offer expires Oct. 31, 1984
I'm paying by.
Total Enclosed:$_
Visa/MC #
Exp, Date:
^Check ^,M0
J VISA CMC
IMCftO
's Newest Software
MicroDisks
Send me the following MicroDisks at
$15.00 each prepaid
□ MD-1 Master Disk Directory
nMD-2 Does'lt Monitor
nMD-3 Accurate Printer
GMD-4 Graphic Printer Dump
nMD-5 COMPRESS
MicroCalc
The Full Screen Calculator
Easier than spreadsheet programs, does
calculations of unlimited length and
complexity on screen, links screens, saves on
disk or tape, provides formatted printer output.
Contains a 48 page manual and diskette.
G MicroCalc for Commodore 64 $29.95
D MicroCalc for Apple ll/lle/llc $29.95
D MicroCalc for Atari $29.95
Please rush the Micro Software checked above to;
Name
Address _
City
State.
-Zip_
MA residents add 5% sales tax.
I'm paying by. □ Check C MO
n VISA C MC
Total Enclosed: $
Visa/MC #_
Exp. Date:_
/MCftO 's Best Sellers
We Pay All Shipping
and Handling
Mastering Your Atari
Through Eight BASIC Projects
Eight stimulating major
projects on diskette — ready
to entertain and educate you.
Includes: Atari Player, Clock,
MicroCalc, Word Detective, ....
Fully described in 192 page
book — the fun way to learn!
□ Mastering Your Atari$19.95
What's Where
in the Apple
Revised new edition with Apple He
information added to original
atlas and gazetter. All Apple users
will find this book helpful in
understanding their machine and
essential for mastering it.
n What's Where in the Apple
272 pages only $19.95
Best Sellers for
APPLE Users!
MICRO on the APPLE
Programming aids, utiiities,
games, enhancements. Together
Voiumes 1, 2, and 3 contain over
100 programs on diskette Fully
documented and explained.
G 3-Volume Gift-Boxed @ $59.95
C Vol.2C Vol.3 $24.95 ea.
Please rush the MICRO Books I've checked above to:
Name
Address.
City
. State .
-Zip.
MA residents add 5% sales tax.
I'm paying by: G Check C MO
□ VISA n MC
Total Enclosed: $
Vlsa;MC#_
Exp. Date:_
NO POSTAGE 1
NECESSARY ■
IF MAILED ■
IN THE ■
UNITED STATES ^
SAVE
20%!!!!
1
Subscribe
/AlCPO
/AICR0
Use This Postage
Paid Card to Order
the Next 12 issues
of IVIICRO and SAVI
$6.00 Off
Newsstand Price!
NO POSTAGE H
NECESSARY ■
IF MAILED ■
IN THE ■
UNITED STATES |
A Feast
[
:
J
i
%
j
1
Computin
Ideas...
j
i
;
/AIOK)
New Booh
From
/AIOK
1
NO POSTAGE
NECESSARY
IF MAILED
IN THE
UNITED STATES
Order These
i
i
Best
Sellers
From
MOtO
BUSINESS REPLY CARD
FIRST CLASS PERMIT NO. 60, CHELMSFORD, f\
i
/MCQO
P.O. Box 6502
Chelmsford, MA 01824
A
Major
Hardware Interface
by Ralph Tenney
Last time we began looking at the problem of connecting
my 32K CoCo as a printer buffer for the 64K CoCo and my
Commodore 64. A sketchy outline of the planned system
was shown, and a simple RS-232 interface between a CoCo
and the C-64 was shown. This month, let's do some detail
designing of the major hardware interface — the receiver
board for the 32K CoCo.
The most often overlooked item in hardware or soft-
ware is a complete design specification. If you omit the
spec while working for another person or company, two
problems can arise. First, you may overlook a feature you
verbally agreed to, and need a expensive re-design (at your
expense). Second, the customer can say, "But I told you I
wanted another printer port," or something similar. With
an agreed-to and signed design specification, you have the
opportunity to charge extra for changes made after the spec
is signed off. In working for yourself, (always after a long
day at work), it's easy to overlook something. If you have
your own spec to work against, you can trade off bells and
whistles against your own time and pocketbook if you
decide to make a change. The point is that the project is
under some control and won't "grow like Topsy" unless
you decide to let it. Besides the other advantages, the
design spec is an good start on the documentation you
must have!
Multi-Port COCO Interface
I. Minimum Interface Capability
A. Centronics Compatible Parallel Ports
1. Port #1 must have a female Centronics style
connector with pinout conforming to that of Figure 1. This
port is an input and must accept a negative-going strobe
pulse .5 uSec. wide (minimum) as a "data ready" signal
and return a similar "acknowledge" pulse when ready to
accept another data byte. An active-high "Busy" signal
shall be provided in addition to the "data ready" and
"acknowledge" signals. This port may be implemented as
a cable terminating in the requisite connector.
2. Port #2 shall be output only, using a connector
which can mate with the connector of Port #1. The pinout
shall conform to that of Figure 1. This port must issue a
negative-going "data ready" signal .5 uSec, (minimum)
1
STROBE* (DATA READY)
2
Figure 1
DATAl "
3
DATA2
4
DATA3
5
DATA4
6
DATA5
7
DATA6
a
DATA7
9
DATAa
10
ACKNL6* (PRINTER READY)
11
BUSY
33
PRINTER GROUND
3^
SLCT IN* (TIE TO GROUND TO SELECT PRINTER)
Figure 1. Pinout of Centronix-style parallel input
plug.
wide and recognize a similar "acknowledge" pulse. The
port shall also monitor a "printer busy" input and hold off
further output until "busy" has gone inactive. This port
must be implemented with cable of 15" minimum length.
B. RS-232 Serial Ports
1. Port #3 shall be an RS-232 input with selectable
baud rates of 600, 1200 and 2400. An output line shall be
provided for, with pinout to match the Radio Shack Color
Computer serial port as implemented by the 1.1 BASIC
ROM. A "busy" signal shall be returned on the fourth wire
of the cable.
2. Port #4 shall be an RS-232 output only, with
selectable baud rates of 600, 1200 and 2400. This channel
shall have a unique output connector and be responsive to
a "busy" input. The data normally assigned to the channel
shall be capable of being diverted to the output of Port #3.
II. Physical and Electrical Considerations
A. The interface card shall be physically compatible
with the cartridge expansion port of the Radio Shack Color
Computer and shall have external support provided for the
end of the card opposite the connector. Cables used as
input and output adapters shall be removable by plugging
onto single- or double-row header strips.
B. The ports shall be based in the CoCo expansion I/O
area between $FF40 and $FF7F and the controlling
software must auto-start and be based at $8000. A separate
specification will define the functions of this software.
C. The two parallel ports shall be built with a 6522
VIA, plus a separate latch to generate the local "busy"
signal and input logic to monitor the remote "busy"
signal. A 6850 ACIA will be used for both ports with
switch logic to divert the output channel as needed. An
acceptable alternative is to create two full duplex channels
with two ACIAs.
Implementation of the Interface
Let's study the CoCo expansion port to see what we have
to work with. Table 1 gives the pinout of this 40 pin
connector. The application of most of the signals is
obvious, but there are a few signals unique to the
6809/6883 architecture of the Color Computer. "E" is the
No. 74 -August 1984
MICRO
65
BECOME
A FAMOUS
INTERNATIONAL
AUTHOR !!!
What better place to start than MICRO, if you
like:
• a fast turnaround on manuscript
submissions
• being treated like a professional
• prompt payment at competitive rates
• national and international exposure (we have
readers from Austria to Australia)
• being part of a magazine that is well
established...? years and going strong
Don't wait -- send for your Writer's Guide
today.
Send a S.A.S.E. to:
Mike Rowe
Micro Ink
P.O. Box 6502
Chelmsford, MA 01824
ATTENTION COMMODORE 64 OWNERS:
Is THE CLONE MACHINE really dead'
Yes. there comes a time when a product grows old and isn't the
latest state of the art Thank goodness we understand that here at
Micro-W Our ail new version (known as SUPER CLONE) will
surely proue that we are still number one )n the back-up business
You'll still get the old reliable
Clone Machine but we've
added the following
1) A fast clone copy (approx
14 minutes) that's simple to use
2) A Super Unguard utilility
that quickly handles errors
20 thru 29 (and you don't
even have to disassemble
your dnue like some of our
competitors suggest)
3) A new unique way to
back-up formerly uncopyable
software
Don t worry if you are a
registered owner of our earlier
version, we've got you on
file and this upgrade will only
cost you $10 plus shipping
and handling Dealers, call
us for stock balancing on old
merchandise
STILL ONLY $49 95-
99 JiSL Available from:
Should \jp. made back
ups '.
1 Super Clone
MicrO'
DISTRIBUTING. INC
'Ae -J, I II aiiow % 15 'I'i-^e rred:: tor ^rn, .-jih^r copi. p:
p.-ircnas*f' )iSljPEHCLONEflr 549 45 .oi, rr^jstD
-laiv 'j^Uk v"'U 'J^ant njrs .nv.e-id Th.s ,!i^r rr,.-\L r^
1342B Route 23
Butier. N J. 07405
CALL (201) 838-9027 To Order
Dealer and Distributor Inquiries Invited
K pu:cSaii?d pn
primar\ tlock ,si^i;nal lor the 6Sll9, ainl Q i^ smuhir m tht
Phase 1 6502 eloek, exeepi tliat it is a L|Liadratiire eiiu.k
whieh ,i;i\es e.\tended tiinin.i; mar^ui'is lor intertaLiiii;
CTS* IS the mam SELECT signal tor the Lartriil,ge port,
and IS aetivc tor the the ian>.;e SCOOd to SFFDO SCS' is a
seeondary SELECTT strobe aeti\e hetween $FE4(i and.
SFFCO and is intended to select I O de\iecs .SLENB' is
furnished to entirely disable the internal deeodiii,i;,
which allows plug-ins such as the Z-80 module v\'hieh rims
C'P.M software. HALT' stops the 6809 and CART' is the
line which allows game cartridges to auto-start. ^A
second auto-start mechanism is available under Extended
BA.SIC — if the bytes at SCOOO and $C0()1 are "OK"
control IS handed o\er to the cartridge. 1 It is important to
note that none of the processor address or data lines arc
buffered The E and Q lines are generated by the bipolar
68(S3 and the two SELECT lines are generated bv a low
power Schottky IC. So, after choosing whieh fC is needed
in the interface, we will need to examine the bus loading
to be sure that the interface will not o\"crload the
computer.
CoCo Expansion Port
TABLE 1
Pin
Function
1
-12 Volts
2
+ 12 Volts
3
HALT*
4
NMI*
5
RESET*
6
E (clock!
7
Q (clock!
8
CART
9
+ 5 Volts
10
Data DO
11
Data Dl
12
Data D2
13
Data D3
14
Data D4
15
Data D5
16
Data D6
17
Data D7
18
R/W*
19
Address AO
20
Address Al
Pin Function
21 Address A2
22 Address A3
23 Address A4
24 Address AS
25 Address A6
26 Address A7
27 Address A8
28 Address A9
29 Address AH)
30 Address All
31 Address Al 2
32 CTS* [SELECT H
33 Ground
34 Ground
35 Sound input
36 SCS* (SELECT 21
37 Address A 13
38 Address A 14
39 Address Al 4
40 SLENB*
The interface board needs the following caiiabilit\ m
addition to the specified L'O ports:
1. A clock source to generate the clock trequciKies
needed for the three speeified baud rates
2 l")ecodmg for ihc Vl.A, vme or two AC.MAs and ,u least
one latch.
66
MICRO
No. 74 ■ August 1984
The ACIA (Asynchronous Communications Interface
Adapter) uses one of two clock frequencies: 16 x the baud
rate (/16 mode) and 64 x the baud rate |764 mode). If you
accept the software overhead required to change the ACIA
divide ratio, the ACIA can be operated in both / 16 and /64
modes with two input frequencies and gain one additional
baud rate:
38400 HZ./16 =
38400 Hz./ 64 =
19200 H2./I6 =
19200 Hz./ 64 =
2400 baud
600 baud
1200 baud
300 baud
Figure 2 shows how these clock frequencies will be
generated. The CD4024 is a 7-bit binary counter, and the
CD4068 is an 8-input AND/NAND gate used to decode
the counter output lines. The clock input to the counter is
Figure 2
r-T
CDtOit
EI T 1
ITfF
61 TS
EI Ij.
_J
-flCIfl CLDCk
ctack
Figure 2. Counter and switched decoder circuit
generates baud rate clock signals.
the 6809 "E" clock which runs at 895 kHz. Table 2 shows
which counter outputs need to be decoded to generate the
two frequencies. Note that three outputs are common
between the two decoding schemes, so three counter
outputs need to be selected or deselected to program the
counter.
TABLE 2 — Counter Coding
895 kHz/23
895 kHz/46
approx. 38400 Hz
approx. 19200 Hz
23 = $17 = 00010 111
46 = $2F = 00101 111
Decode bits 0, 1 and 2 are common;
Bits 3, 4 and 5 must be switched to select frequency.
ACIA and VIA Decoding
Table 3 shows the decoding requirements for the 6522 VIA
and the 6850 ACIA. The ACIA occupies only two memory
locations and the VIA occupies 16 memory locations. You
read the chart this way: CS (Chip Select) lines are shown
true for a selected chip; any change will deselect the chip.
An active-low CS line is typically driven by the decoder,
while others are permanently selected or driven by a
higher-order address line. RS lines work together to select
individual registers, and are usually driven by low-order
address lines. The ACIA uses the RS and R/W* lines
together to cram four registers into two address bytes. The
price is that each register is read-only or write-only, which
complicates the programming as will be discussed later.
TABLE 3 — I/O Address Decoding
6850 ACIA
Register RS R-
/W* CSO CSl CS2*
Control Reg
Status Reg
Transmit Reg
Receive Reg
1
1
6522 VIA
Register CSl CS2* RS3 RS2 RSI RSO
I/O Reg B 10
I/O Reg A 10 1
DD Reg B 10 10
DD Reg A 10 11
Counter 1 Lo 10 10
Counter 1 Hi 10 10 1
Ctrl Latch Lo 1 110
Ctrl Latch HI 1 111
Counter 2 Lo 10 10
Counter Hi 10 10 1
Shift Reg 10 10 10
Aux Ctl Reg 10 10 11
Per Ctl Reg 10 110
Int Fig Reg 10 110 1
Int Ena Reg 11110
I/OA/NH 1 1 1 1 ISl
Figure 3 shows a 74LS138 decoder with the required
connections to create memory "slots" for a number of I/O
devices, and defines the memory locations for the VIA,
ACIAs and a latch to be used on the interface. The
74LS138 is a three-line to eight-line decoder which has one
active-high SELECT line (Gl) and two active-low SELECT
lines [G2A and G2Bj. If all the SELECT lines are true, the
output addressed by the binary values on the three input
lines |A, B and C) is active-low; all others are inactive. If
any of the SELECT lines are false, all outputs are inactive.
The primary SELECT is SCS*, which must be low (G2A).
By requiring Bit 7 to be low (G2B), the decoder is inactive
above $FF7F. With Bit 6 driving Gl and C, only the
outputs 4, 5, 6 and 7 will be active. The selected devices
and the effective addresses are shown in Figure 3. Note
that the VIA entirely fills its assigned slot, but that the
other devices will respond multiple times in their own
slots.
*5'.'
ItL-JlSS
Figure 3
FFtr
FrtF
FFnF
C522:
LATCH
Figure 3.
74LS138 decoder circuit with resulting
memory blocks and assigned function.
iMCftO
No. 74 - August 1984
MICRO
67
Title: Overcoming Computer Illiteracy
Authors: Susan Curran and Ray Cumow
Price: $12.95
Publisher: Viking Penguin Inc.
Written for those who have no previous knowledge of
computers, this is Penguin's first foray into computer-
related books. It is divided into five sections: Aspects
of Modern Computer Technology, Manipulating Symbols,
Development of the Computer — An Historical
Perspective, Programming and Languages, Applications of
Larger-Scale Computer Systems. The style of the writing
is narrative, with no requirement of previous knowledge of
computers, mathematics, or electronics. Simple programs
are provided that can be used by beginners. The basic
principles of data storage and manipulation are explained.
The 6502 chip is chosen as an example for discussing the
basic components and workings of microprocessor chips.
Languages examined include machine language, BASIC,
FORTRAN, COBOL and other high-level languages.
Computer aided design, artificial intelligence,
meteorological uses are among the applications discussed.
A glossary and bibliography are provided. Points are
illustrated through drawings, charts and tables.
Level: Beginner.
Title: Introducing the Acorn/BBC Micro
Author: Ian Sinclair
Price: $12.95
Publisher; Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Mr. Sinclair draws upon his many years of experience as
a teacher and author in writing this introduction to the
Acorn. As stated by the author, the Acom was designed to
a very advanced specification. Bearing this in mind he
set to teach a beginner on a machine not well suited to
beginners. The book is aimed at this level and makes no
pretenses otherwise. Starting with instructions on how to
set up your new Acorn, everything from tuning your TV to
dealing with cables is dealt with. The programming
concentrates on BASIC, neglecting those commands that
might be common to other micros but are not part of the
Acorn. The fundamentals of sound, graphics and color are
shown, omitting those details that are too technical to be
of use to a beginner. This approach of avoiding overly
technical and lengthly discussions carries throughout the
book. The examples are short and concise, saving the
beginner from unnecessary confusion. The appendices
cover Reserved Words, Cassette Capers, Appending
Programs, Magazines and User Groups, and the Cassette
Bug Fix. The latter is aimed at correcting a bug present
in the 0.1 system's cassette. The book and programs are
useful for both the 0. 1 and the newer 1.2 operating system.
Level: Beginner.
Title: 8-Bit & 16-Bit Microprocesser Cookbook
Author: Joseph y. Carr
Price: $13.50
Publisher: Tab Books, Inc.
A reference and sourcebook that guides the reader in
the technical realm of microprocessors. Offering much
valuable information that is not easily found elsewhere,
a variety of topics are covered: architecture, individual
chip characteristics, handling of interrupts, timing,
control signals, interfacing memory, pinouts, variations,
interfacing I/O and the instruction sets. Of the different
8 and 16-bit microprocessors examined, the Z80 and 6502
are given particular attention and detail. Other 8-bit chips
covered are Motorola's 6809 and 6800 and Intel's 8080A,
8085A, 8086, and 8088. The two 16-bit micToprocessors
that are given the most attention are the MC68000,
Motorola's bid for the 16-bit market, and Intel's
iAPX86/10. The appendices look at address decoder
circuits and techniques, generating device-select pulses,
input/output devices, and low-voltage DC power
supplies. Certainly this field is too vast for this book to
be comprehensive, but it definitely provides the reader
with enough information to become knowledgable about
these more popular microprocessors.
Level: Intermediate to advanced.
Title: The Anatomy of the Commodore
Authors: Michael Angerhausen, Dr. Achim Becker,
Lothar Englisch and Klaus Gerits
Price: $19.95
Publisher: Abacus Software
Starting with machine language programming, this look at
the C64 as an all-around computer is a valuable guide. It
begins with the Monitor and its uses, naturally progressing
into the in's and out's of machine language programming.
Then assembler programming is discussed, with a table of
6510 commands. Next, a more in-depth look is taken into
memory configurations, the expansion and user ports and
other special features of the 6510 microprocessor . Sound
and graphics programming are covered, examining the
Sound Controller 6581 and the Video Interface Chip 6567.
The Analog/Digital Converter is explained, along with
how to handle it. Sprite graphics are discussed in some
detail, including capabilities, structure, and programming.
The BASIC interpreter is viewed from a number of vantage
points. A comparison table of Vic-20, C64 and CBM/PET
ROM addresses is provided. The last chapter deals with
input/output control — CIA 6526. The appendices
consist of a ROM listing, a short lesson in Hexadecimal
arithmetic, a summary of capabilities and a bibliography.
Level: Advanced beginner to Advanced.
68
MICRO
No. 74 - August 1984
Name:
cat^xia(^
Enstat Printer Mat
Description: Dissipates static and
absorbs sound and vibration from
printers, electronic typewriters, etc.
This single layer mat's positive
static drain to ground functions
in all temperatures and humidity
conditions found in office or home
environment and works with people
and other conductive objects as well
as machines. Sized to fit most
tabletop equipment (18" x 22"), it
has a 10 ft. ground cord with one
megohm resistor.
A "bottom feed" design allows
printer paper to pass over the mat
edge, discharging static before it
enters the printer.
Price: $44.95
Available: Semtronics
P.O. Box 599
Scotch Plains, N] 07076
201/561-9520
Name: McMill
System: Apple E, 11 + , He
Description: This 68000
coprocessor card is an excellent
entry level educational board for
those interested in working the
68000. It uses Motorola's 60008
processor which is totally code
compatible with 68000.
Included are complete hardware
documentation, schemata, and a
FIG FORTH software. Optional
software includes a 68000 cross
assembler from SC Software which
includes efficient debugging of code
with simple trap monitor and built-
in line oriented editor, and an
enhanced screen editor for faster
programming. McMill comes with a
one-year hardware warranty.
Price: $229 ($299 with
Assembler)
Available: Stellation Two
P.O. Box 2342
Santa Barbara, CA 93120
805/966-1140
Name;
Flexible Head Cleaning
Disk
Hardware:
8", 5 1/4", or 3 1/2"
drive
Description: A floppy disk head
cleaner that dry cleans without
abrasives and requires no liquid
solution which might leave residue.
Removes Ferric Oxide
contamination and traps debris
internally in special pockets. Just
insert into drive and run for 30-60
seconds weekly. Each Disk provides
30 cleanings at about $.83 per
cleaning. Available in three sizes.
Price: $24.95 (5 1/4" disk)
Available: Vikor Company
P.O. Box 3123
Nashua, NH 03061
603/889-8530
Name:
System:
Paperclip
Commodore 64
Description: This word processor
allows a switch to 80-column
display with no additional
hardware, just a simple common
routine. Horizontal scrolling up
to 250 columns across for wider
documents or tables also is possible.
A powerful search capability uses
unusually precise definition of
"search" words. A unique printer
set-up routine allows the user to get
the best advantage of any printer,
and support files include over 100
popular printers.
Paperclip also can be used with
SpellPack, a spelling checker
program with an internal dictionary
of over 20,000 words.
Price: $89.95
Available: Batteries Included
3303 Harbor Blvd, Ste C9
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
714/979-0920
No. 74 ■ August 1984
MICRO
69
Name:
System:
Bank President
Apple II, lie, lie,
Macintosh, IBM
Description: This first title in a
series is designed to teach the
fundamentals of business strategy
and decision making through role-
playing games. As CEO, the player
formulates strategy and makes
decisions that determine how well
the company performs. Users can
play the game alone, against the
computer, or in competition with
other players. Actions of one
competitor can affect the
performance of another, as in real
life. Players are CEO of a large
commercial bank of any type they
want, setting loan and dedposit
interest rates, raising or lowering
employee salaries, investing capital
and opening branches. Over 70
charts and graphs keep the player
informed of the economy, bank
conditions and competitors'
actions. There are three levels of
play.
High-Tech Entrepreneur and
Venture Capitalist are the next two
titles due in the series.
Price: $74.95
Available: Lewis Lee Corp.
P.O. Box 51831
Palo Alto, CA 94303
415/853-1220
Name: Simulated Computer
System: Atari, Commodore 64
Description: An award-winning
simulation of the inner workings of a
computer. The program takes you on a
trip through an imaginary computer,
revealing the secrets of machine and
assembly language programming. You
create a program and then see and hear
the flow of data as it travels into
memory, as registers are modified, and
as the CPU processes information. The
package has programmable sound and a
graphics "turtle screen."
Price:
Available:
EduSoft
P.O. Box 2560
Berkeley, CA 94702
1-800-EDUSOFT
Name: Flying Colors
System: Commodore 64 (also
Apple IIe/II+ versions)
Hardware: Joystick
Description: A color graphics
software package designed for use
with a standard joystick. A
windowed screen menu lets the user
pick the desired functions for
drawing. Choices include thick and
thin lines, automatic circles and
boxes of any size, erasures, and
ability to fill enclosed areas with a
variety of colors. Drawing speed can
be adjusted for exacting detail work
and different colors and brush sizes
are available for painting. Text can
be added anywhere to the screen and
a grid helps align the pictures.
Pictures can be saved and retrieved
from disk.
A sophisticated Slide Projector
program is also included so users
can create their own slide shows
for business presentations and
recreation.
Price: $39.95
Available: The Computer
Colorworks
3030 Bridgeway
Sausahto, CA 94965
415/331-3022
Name: Dimension 68000
Memory: 256K RAM (512K
optional)
Language: Virtually all
Description: This amazing machine
comes with a display that handles
up to 100 characters by 48 lines in
16 colors, and two 5 1/4" floppies,
serial, parallel and game controller
interfaces, and a six-slot internal
expansion but that makes possible
expansion to 12.5 megabytes of
RAM and even more.
However, the most exciting part
is that this computer can run almost
any company or microprocessor's
software. Plug-in CPU cards
automatically reconfigure the disk
drive format and video display to
imitate the hardware of the
simulated machine. CP/M-68K is
standard, but p-System, Idris, UNIX
are all possible, as are Apple, IBM,
KayPro and other CP/M and MS-
DOS software.
Price: Under $4000
Available: Micro Craft Corporation
4747 Irving Blvd.,
Suite 241
Dallas, TX 75247
214/630-2562
dimiiiisisii
— i
.■■:::V -ii .iigfi^^^^MHiMI
B^^-
\
te5'^''-'E:^''*\'(
70
MICRO
No. 74 ■ August 1984
r— ^efe ^te^
c
R
COMPUTER
S
S
W
O
R
D
S
Vlorano
P
1
M%l
1
1
1
1
1
1
■■
5
jjj^H ■
^
Pr^
1
■
»
■ ■
It
■■
1
.■ ■
■
9
1
I
■■
mr
la
1
ly
J ■
■r
1
■■
1
■
u
■
1
»
W^
ir
1.
h^l
s
y
X
|l
■
y
3t
»
X"
»
I
91
■
1 ■
■ '
■ ■
w
1 1
M ^\
1
^^■41
*r
M
1
<?
4«
«^
1 1
«
. ^^
9
■■
5l
IL
1
^B
!■
B
^Hll
9,
5&
■ ■
^■■ll
57
■
■
P
p
93
J^i
1
■ ■
U
w
■
■
■
W^^ ^^H
■
■
■
■
■
ACROSS
1. A hackers ham.
5. It not less, than .
6. Strength of Hght given off by candles (abbr).
9. To wipe out.
10. A printers favorite flower.
12. Branch on not equal |abbr)
13. Bowes.
15. In heaven they are pearly (singular).
17. A kind of graphics.
18. What tax evaders and programmers have m common.
19. Dot.
22. A off the old block.
24. A felme.
25. The study of controlling an industrial process
automatically by computer.
28. Composer with speech impediment, Franz .
30. Cold hard .
31. A dying impersonator
38. A kind of race that impulses play.
39. Don't touch the third one.
40. A shortened room.
41. A sign that soimds like a crash.
45. A chauffer.
48. If — — else.
49. A TV by any other name.
50. You need to do this to vote.
51. Secret .
52. Photo color with brownish tint.
53. Transported with delight.
54. What the Apple programmer exclaimed when he found out his
assembler was missing.
57. What Bob Hope's annual performance rate has dropped to.
58. Minus without the vowels.
59. A description of space games.
62. What a programmer puts on when his program bombs.
63. A bust builder.
end or else!'
DOWN
1. What is leftover after eating an apple.
I. What holds a woman in place.
3. To begin again.
4. One of the 3 R's.
5. An orderform for restaurants.
6. What an instigator is.
7. Needles and .
8. 'The books must be done
10. What a mail clerk does best.
II. Ready, , go!
14. Our Lady of Grace.
16. A dance for those who change their mind.
18. What Santa checks twice.
20. A manufacturer that sounds like the floor of a ship.
21. What nervous programmers develop.
22. On a day.
23. A greeting.
26. A suitor.
27, Both astrology and hit records have this in common.
29. A group of professional hide and sneakers.
32. Hi (abbr. I .
33. Machine Language (abbr).
34. What crashes, rises and drops, (abbr).
35. A form of communication using signals to start and stop.
36. Where something starts.
37. coordinates.
39. Lo .
42. A coding scheme that sounds like a brand of underwear.
43. A state where apples grow.
44. Light (abbr).
46. Over and over, again and again.
47. A way computers talk.
54. An unusual state of affairs.
55. Luxury Edition (abbr).
56. Snow White (abbr).
60. Internat'l Conference on Information Processing (abbr).
61. Conditional Transfer of Control (abbrl.
No. 74- August 1984
MICRO
71
Advertiser'
s
Index
Ci)m)H\tL'i' t"oli>r\vi)rks
CompLitcr Mail Order .
C'uniputLTosc
EduScitt
HikImiii Di,i;ital £ IcL-trimiLS ,
\()R Enterprises
Lewis Lee
Bae
, ^1)
. 6"
k Cvr
^1)
MlCRCl
Miero t rait C orp
Miero-VV l)istributin,i; . ,
Malwest Mieros
.1
1,64,1ns Hae
, "()
66
. ]:-.
s
Nikriini Teehiiieal I'riKkiets
Lertcirnianee M iern
22,2,\24,2,"\
Ins Froi
Hi ^7
Oiantum Soltware
Sehiieeller Svstcnis
Semtrnnies
Sk\'les Eleetrie V\'orks
. 14
. i.s
. 6'»
t ("\'r
SpeeuiItN' Fleetronies
14
Sceilatiiiii Tw n
Siieh-A-neal Sottvearc
Tdtl S()tt^^ are . .
y 6y
S! )
^
Traiisaetiir
Viknr (\> ,
6y
MICRO
Reader
Survey
The Editorial Staff and Advertising Staff of
MICRO want to sincerely thank the hundreds
of readers who have taken the time and
nnade the effort to connplete and return the
READER SURVEY that was included in the
June issue. We are currently working to
encode and analyze the infornnation that you
provided. Although it will be a couple of
weeks before the results are fully 'digested',
this infornnation has already started to
influence our editorial directions and has
been helpful in defining our readership to the
advertising comnnunity.
If you have not yet returned your
questionnaire, please do so before the end of
August so that your interests will be
represented.
^Ur>yJ^ Solving
Lyte Bytes
In the July issue, Lyte Bytes had a connputer
word puzzle which required unscrannbling the
words and then arranging letters to find the
answer. Below is the proper solution.
'&.£L£.h.iL^^/M.^/-k£.3.X/Mj-2./l£.-L*C£.
NCEMMUOIN ImIn^I©!^^ iMlol/^IOkl
LXEPI jPlQIxIfKI
VICHSEURE |-K|fkk|7?l®ll l@lrl
RPHEOP I@l°|p|p|©l>f1
EDPC0UE30D I? |@| g|©|? I O k I o\pW\
GRMIOTLAH |/> I /- l<rlCq)l'??l ' It-I/vIa;!
CIKDOLRG |6-I@|l l^kjokl/C-l
CAUPDETiL IpIuI^Ka)!/ Icfa)|-r|f |
UNENOMLITOEMCAC [t"! f| jL |©| g | o |/>;|/tl | ty|/\/| / |©| /I |Sj| / \o\^\
niBYAN |@|/ IvI/ikTyl
\T>mc\,U\AL\
ILECDHAMXIE
mi\A
CBYisoML (aiy'|^>l6|oUU |g|
Coming in September —
As announced in previous editorials, MICRO is
extending its coverage into some new areas, some of
which are represented in the September issue by:
D An Introduction to FORTH,
by Kenneth Butterfield
The basic whys and wherefores of this language
G A Structure Tree Utility in FORTH,
by Mike Dougherty
Produces "road-maps"of FORTH applications
n Multi-Tasking in FORTH,
by Kenneth Butterfield
How to implement a Multi-Tasking system
D 68000 Exception Processing — Part 1,
by Mike Rosing
Taking care of software and hardware 'exceptions'
Our coverage of the 6502/6809 world contmucs
with:
D Graphic Printer for C64 — Part 3,
by Michael Keryan
Add full color capabilities to your printer
n Time Series Forecasting,
by Brian Flynn
Programs to forecast 'The Market', weather, ...
72
MICRO
No. 74 - August 1984
This famous book now contains the most comprehensive description of firmware
and hardware ever published for the whole Apple II family. A new section with
guide, atlas and gazeteer now provides Apple lie specific information.
• Gives names and locations of various Monitor,
DOS, Integer BASIC and Applesoft routines and
tells what they're used for
• Lists Peeks, Pokes and Calls in over 2000
memory locations
• Allows easy movement between BASIC and
Machine Language
• Explains how to use the information for easier,
better, faster software writing
This expanded edition is available at the new low price of only $1 9.95
For the 35,000 people who already own previous editions,
the Me Appendix is available separately for just $5.00.
Please send me:
What's Where in the Apple @ $19.95 ea.
(Plus $2.00 per copy shipping/handling)
Apple lie Appendix @ $5.00 ea.
(Includes shipping charges)
Mass residents add 5% sales tax $
Total Enciosed $
For faster service
Phone 617/256-3649
Name
Address
City
Signature
Acct # .
State
Zip
D Checl«
D VISA
D MasterCard
Expires.
MICRO, P.O. Box 6502, Chelmsford, MA 01624
L _. . _.___—.——..
Parental guidance suggested.
••J*V-.
Take an active role in your
child's development.
Parenting. The most important and
rewarding endeavor you'll ever under-
take. Gaze into your child's eyes.
They're capturing all the wonders of
the world around him, and looking to
you for guidance.
Now you can gain a unique insight
into your child's world with Childpace™
— an amazing new Child Development
Program for ages 3 to 60 months.
Share the precious firsts.
When will your baby dazzle you
with his first spontaneous smile? Stand
alone? Take that first wobbly step?
The first five years are filled with
continual growth and change. And
questions. So even if your child's a
toddler, you're still looking for answers.
When will he start dressing himself?
When should those random scribbles
turn into distinctive shapes?
Compare apples- to-apples.
Childpace lets you evaluate your
child's dexterity, language and social
skills in the privacy of your own home.
You enter information into Childpace,
then he attempts tasks that are appropriate
for his age group.
Childpace assesses his skill level
based on extensive research, not the
biased opinions of friends or relatives.
Childpace uses your child's chronolog-
ical (actual) age.
Grow with your child.
As your child grows, the tasks change
to match his newly acquired skills. So
Childpace is just as valuable for a 48-
month old child as for an infant.
Childpace can even evaluate up to 16 dif-
ferent children, and keep permanent
records on each of them. Snapshots
record your child's physical growth, but
Childpace documents his or her actual
development.
Track your child's progress, and help
him develop specific skills. Childpace
also contains warning signals to alert you
to potential developmental problems at
an early age, before they hold your child
back. An ounce of prevention pays off
Childpace. A fascinating glimpse into
the world of child development. And
more importantly, mto your child's world.
Look for Childpace at your local com-
puter hardware or software store. If unable
to find it, send $39.95 to Computerose,
Inc. Please allow two weeks for process-
ing. 30 day money back guarantee.
<t^Q Q^ suggested
^->". 7 J retail price
Childpace is
available for the
Commodore 64®
IBM PC® IBM
PC Jr.® Atari
800® Apple II®
and Radio Shack
Color Computer®*
*Each is a registered trademark
of the respective manufacturer
Comput€i5ise
«/..„ „,„™.,^„;p^ f„r life. '^'^
2012 Bast Randol Mill Road Suite 223
Arlington, TX 76011 (817)277-9153
(D 1984 Computerose, Inc.
r
M
■Mi
Live Music
Archive
Librivox
Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland
Museum of Art
Internet
Arcade
Console Living Room
Open Library
American
Libraries
TV News
Understanding
9/11